The same thing happened in my family. My paternal grandmother had a child 8 years before she married and moved away. He was brought up by his grandparents and only knew of them as his parents. His marriage and death certificates list the grandparents as parents. He would have fit right in ... his aunt was only 3 years older than him and all this only came to light when I got his birth certificate. Rosemary On Sun, Nov 13, 2011 at 5:13 PM, xpn11 <xpn11@aol.com> wrote: > I have seen certificates roughly the same date with the father's name > left blank so it must have been allowed. > One option is that he had made the pretence for reasons of employment. > Or to save face- although only witnesses get to see a marriage > certificate he may have had to conjure up a deceased parent. > He would not have been able to carry off an open deceit if he lived > married and worked where he grew up I would have thought. > Rosie > > On 13/11/2011 22:52, Elizabeth Inmon wrote: > > Hi Tony, > > > > Had the same situation with my maternal grandmother. No father's name on > > birth, grandfather's name on marriage as the father. My mother told me > that > > her mother grew up believing that her grandparents were her parents, > while > > being told that her natural mother was her "sister". So much for family > > secrets. My grandmother's mother actually married the man believed to be > > the father a few years later, having more children. However, my > grandmother > > was left with her grandparents and was raised by them. > > > > Good luck with your research, > > > > Elizabeth > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Tony Ellis > > Sent: Sunday, November 13, 2011 5:05 PM > > To: NORFOLK@rootsweb.com > > Subject: [NFK] Grandfather's name as Father on Wedding Certificate > > > > Hi All > > > > I have a relative born in Norfolk in 1910. His birth certificate does > > not show a father, and the mother is living with her parents with the > > person in question shown as a grandson in the 1911 census. He was born > > out of wedlock. However, when he marries in 1938 the marriage > > certificate has a name for his father, which is identical to that of his > > grandfather. We have a very good idea who the biological father was, and > > his name was quite different. > > > > Was it common in this circumstance to do this? Was a father's name > > required and could not be left blank? Other thoughts :- a 'white lie' to > > either help any children from the marriage or the bride's family were > > religious and wouldn't have accepted such a son-in-law. > > > > Any thoughts, knowledge of general practice, legal requirements, > > theories - all gratefully accepted.. > > > > Tony > > > > ------------------------------- > > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > > NORFOLK-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes > > in the subject and the body of the message > > > > > > ------------------------------- > > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > NORFOLK-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > NORFOLK-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >