Genealogy Chat

I wonder if anyone can help me. I am currently looking into my late father's family. My father was born in 1932 in Birmingham & on his birth certificate his mother's name is Edna Mabel Ironmonger (otherwise Davis) - do you know what that means? I am not sure why they have put both surnames. My father took his mother's surname of Ironmonger, even though both parents were there at the registration. My father was then adopted in 1933. I have found out about my grandfather c.1910 and his family but not my grandmother. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Louise

it sounds very much like she used another surname as a alias.She may have lived with a man as married without the ceremony and taken his name. I had one lady married three times so it was written as Esther Jane Lane, late Hart (meaning widowed) formerly Waters, nee Hickling.

Thanks Julie. It would be good to find out what her maiden name is out of the two! If she was married, do you think they may have used formerly or nee? She didn't use my grandfather's name either as his was 'Sabell'

try looking for births with each surname, and see which looks most likely you may need to resort to buying a wrong certificate to get the details to eliminate one of them, but hopefully there will be one which is much more likely than the other

Maybe this is your Edna ? Births Sep 1910 - IRONMONGER Edna M King's N. 6c 367 Gwyn

I have a certificate which has an 'otherwise'. In this case it was a divorced woman remarrying and she was indexed in both her maiden name and her ex's name. Perhaps she was brought up by a stepfather whose name she adopted for convenience sake.

Like Janet, I too have someone who was known by her stepfather's surname, which was Tyrer, but on her marriage certificate it says 'otherwise known as Walmesley'. Further research proved that Walmesley had been her deceased natural father's surname.