Genealogy Chat

I am having trouble sorting this family out I have a Husband dying his wife remarries and then two of the children appear on census records with the new Husbands Surname along with a new child with his surname. I also have a Son of the first Husband born 2 years after his death but still with his surname ,I need help badly I really want to get this Sons Birth Cert I had help on here we thought we had narrowed his Birth down and the Cert duly arrived and it was the wrong one again.

A lot of children did take their 'step dads' name but I don;t think that they ever went through any legal process. I have ones where the children have kept their fathers names on the census, ones where they have their new dads name - I think it was just a case of what theu told the enumerator, tom.

Hi Valerie The children were often listed on the census with their stepfather's surname but you may find that they marry using their original name. Heather

The son of the first husband will have his mother's surname, which is any name she chooses to use. If she hasnt remarried, then her first married surname is her 'legal' one and she uses that to register the birth of a child - whether or not it is the child of her dead husband! Phew, I hope that makes sense - does it?! OC

hi thanks for your replies, this is the 3rd Birth Cert I have got wrong I am so fed up with this lot. I dont understand why they would name a Boy with the same surname as his dad who was dead at least 2 years before he was born .,

thanks Old Crone but I am still totally confused I think I will have to nick Heathers ID

Are you saying this boy was the child of the woman and her second husband, born during their marriage? If so, maybe it was a form of 'respect' for the dead man. OC

no he was born before she remarried but about 2 years after her first husband died , actually you have got me thinking maybe it was her lovers because he was living with her

Oh, Valerie, or maybe not - because if this was 2nd husband's child, surely they would use their married name for him, why make him stand out as different? OC

I found something similar recently. Mother was widowed with children and a lodger on one census, was Mrs Lodger with more children on the next census then 10 years later the lodger was head of the house she was housekeeper with her first married name! Heather

I really dont know Old Crone they are one of the most awkward families you could have I have not managed to find the birth certs for any of the kids at all, Even though the dates are on LDS , and i know they make mistakes but a couple of my contacts have this family in their Tree with the same dates and nobody can find their certs. Heather thats interesting, they were a sneaky lot actually in those days.

Valerie, in one of my families the father dies, the mother remarries and the younger children take the new dads name but the older ones keep their own name. Then later on all the children revert back to their original name. Jean

hello Jean , yes I can understand that but she had a son 2 years after her first husband died in 1848 she did not remarry till 1850 when the last son was born but he has the first husbands surname, its all so confusing but I am determined to beat this lot

that is strange..... but I'm sure you'll do it. Oh I meant to ask.....does he keep that name all the time?... or is it too near 1901 for you to check more census?

I am starting to doubt it because I have had no luck with this lot at all, this son married in 1869 then disappears with his new wife so dont even know what happened to him at all

I cannot find him on any census with his family at all , its as if he was made up.If I didnt have his marriage cert I would think I imagined him.

I spent ages trying to add such a child to my family tree, didn't realise that you could change the child's surname to be different from her father's, lol. Husband and wife had parted, wife had a child by another man but registered her child in her current surname which was the name of husband but he wasn't the father so child had a surname that wasn't her mother's maiden name or her father's surname. Heather

With all these families with wrong names, when we get up to the present day, we might all find out we're not who we thought we were... LOL Me for one.......my grandfather's name is not the one he started with in 1871. Don't know what's the matter with this board...it's taking me ages to go from one window to another. Jean

I'm having trouble with this site too. Heather

Heather that sounds like what has happened here. Jean I have had terrible trouble getting back on here its sooooo sloooow Yes maybe I was never born ??? think I will go to bed now goodnight everyone.