Hello Can anyone suggest why two children should be given their mother's surname when the parents were married in the late 1880's? Both of them were born within three years of the marriage, the boy seems to have his father's Christian name and then his father's surname as a middle name, the girl has her mother's Christian name and then her father's surname as a middle name. Later they are both shown in the 1891 census living with their maternal grandmother and family. (Mum is nowhere to be seen at least under her maiden name) The family is not all that flash for it to have seemed very desirable to keep the mother's surname above the father's. So why? The only other clue would be that the family seems to have moved around the Lothian's more than their kith and kin. I am probably thick and not come to the obvious answer, but for the life of me I cannot understand why. Regards Tom McNairney