Hi Gordon I have several cases where the marriage certificates show the name of a father when to all intents and purposes the Groom was given his Mother's surname when his birth was registered, ie he was, or seems to have been, base born. In one case the Groom showed his father as William. Co-incidentally this was the Christian name of his Step Father who had an entirely different surname! In another case the Groom's father is shown as George but since I haven't found parents for his mother yet I can't establish for certain that the Mother didn't make a mistake and show her Husband's surname instead of her real Maiden name? Mind you I can't find a father for him called George yet either so by showing an untraceable father he has caused me more problems! I also have a case where the shown (but clearly fictitious) Father's name is, coincidentally (!), the same name as his Mother's father ie his Grandfather who he had lived with all his life!! Perhaps he grew up thinking that his Grandfather was his father. I also have three children who several of us believe were sired by the Mother's father ie their Grandfather. I haven't looked to see what they put on their marriage certificates yet! And finally, I have of course also got several instances where the Mother gave her son the surname of the man she married shortly after the birth suggesting quite strongly that he was the father! I think the latter reason is fairly common quite normal. Especially if they couldn't wait until the much used marrying day, 25th December, when both parties had a holiday! I am sending this reply via the list partly because several members have responded and partly because the more examples we have of what we might see when faced with a problem of yesteryear, the better equipped we all are to find possible solutions. Regards Peter Jones Hornchurch Essex Studying Trus(s)lers etc worldwide -----Original Message----- From: carmarthenshire-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:carmarthenshire-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of gordon myddelton Sent: 22 February 2010 12:06 To: carmarthenshire@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [CMN-L] Facts! My gt.gt.gt.grandfather's birth certificate shows no father's name on it but when he married there was a father's name on his marriage certificate. Could he have just picked any name as I can't find any trace of the name in any of the census returns the family are on.