Hello everyone, My query is regarding registration details not necessarily Yorkshire but it may have implications for any area. I wonder if any one can explain/confirm why this situation has arisen. This information is regarding a ‘living’ family therefore I do not want to give their actual names on site, so I have changed them On Ancestry.co.uk - I have a person born Margaret Spencer (mother’s maiden name Spencer) 19 years later she gets married to Andrew Chase. However there are two marriage registrations for Andrew Chase, in the same area, year and quarter One marries a Margaret Spencer and one a Margaret Light. There are then 3 children born the eldest born to Chase maiden name Spencer, the next two to Chase maiden name Light ( I do know for certain that these children are from the same parents) Following a marriage split Margaret then reverts to the last name Spencer. I am assuming rightly or wrongly that when Margaret was born her own mother was unmarried and either went on to marry a Light (although I cannot find a marriage) or that Margaret was adopted by the Light family, are there any other suggestions? Also does anyone know why she was recorded as been married twice under different last names, is this common practice, plus why were two maiden names used for her own children. Has anyone come across this before, my concern is that this could have real implications for people like me who search for marriages and children using actual and maiden names. Because if I had used only the names Spencer and Chase I would not have found the other two children and vice versa Libe Hast

Libe I agree with your assumption about Margaret's surname (became the stepchild or adopted child of a Light). If there was more than one name she could be known by, her marriage to Andrew Chase would be registered in both names, using words such as 'Margaret Spencer otherwise Light'.  I have seen two similar examples within the last 20 years. The childrens' births could well have used the same or similar words, and been transcribed differently (if you are looking at a transcription), ie different transcribers made different choices about what is the maiden name.  Alternatively Margaret could have given different maiden names and the certificates could have different maiden names; for example if she was answering different questions ('what was your name before you were married' or 'what was your name at birth'). Kim  --- On Sun, 26/8/12, libe <libehast@googlemail.com> wrote: On Ancestry.co.uk - I have a person born Margaret Spencer (mother’s maiden name Spencer) 19 years later she gets married to Andrew Chase. However there are two marriage registrations for Andrew Chase, in the same area, year and quarter One marries a Margaret Spencer and one a Margaret Light. There are  then  3 children born the eldest born to  Chase maiden name Spencer, the next two to  Chase maiden name Light ( I do know for certain that these children are from the same parents) Following a marriage split Margaret then reverts  to the last name Spencer. I am assuming rightly or wrongly that when Margaret was born her own mother was unmarried and either went on to marry a Light (although I cannot find a marriage) or that Margaret was adopted by the Light family, are there any other suggestions? Also does anyone  know why she was recorded as been married twice under different last names, is this common practice, plus why were two maiden names used for her own children. Libe Hast

Hi Libe I was surprised not to see more replies on this Without seeing the entries its hard to be sure but sounds as if Margaret was indeed born to an unmarried mother, but her father may have subsequently been found to be LIGHT (depending on the circumstances, year etc he may have been in an ongoing relationship with the mother but just not married) The marriage is seemingly registered twice (presumably with the same reference?) as the mother gave her name as SPENCER aka LIGHT The answer is most likely to be answered by obtaining the certificate(s) of course As to implications - you will find all manner of reasons that may stop you finding all the correct marriages, births or deaths of those you seek, mainly as humans get involved in the process They miss things, wrongly record things, mix letters and words up, give misleading information, lie through their teeth etc etc Then yet more people transcribe or make those indexes available and in so doing add another layer of human error Nivard Ovington in Cornwall (UK) On 26/08/2012 09:24, libe wrote: > Hello everyone, > > My query is regarding registration details not necessarily Yorkshire > but it may have implications for any area. > > I wonder if any one can explain/confirm why this situation has > arisen. > > This information is regarding a ‘living’ family therefore I do not > want to give their actual names on site, so I have changed them > > On Ancestry.co.uk - I have a person born Margaret Spencer (mother’s > maiden name Spencer) > > 19 years later she gets married to Andrew Chase. > > However there are two marriage registrations for Andrew Chase, in the > same area, year and quarter > > One marries a Margaret Spencer and one a Margaret Light. > > There are then 3 children born the eldest born to Chase maiden > name Spencer, the next two to Chase maiden name Light ( I do know > for certain that these children are from the same parents) > > Following a marriage split Margaret then reverts to the last name > Spencer. > > I am assuming rightly or wrongly that when Margaret was born her own > mother was unmarried and either went on to marry a Light (although I > cannot find a marriage) or that Margaret was adopted by the Light > family, are there any other suggestions? > > Also does anyone know why she was recorded as been married twice > under different last names, is this common practice, plus why were > two maiden names used for her own children. > > Has anyone come across this before, my concern is that this could > have real implications for people like me who search for marriages > and children using actual and maiden names. > > Because if I had used only the names Spencer and Chase I would not > have found the other two children and vice versa > > Libe Hast