Genealogy Chat

I have found evidence of a speech impediment as all the children of Thomas Wetheralt, my 5ggfather 1746, were registered as Wedrald or Wederald.

I have seen this many times in my research, we have put it down to people not being able to read for themselves, so they would have no idea how the writer was spelling their name, i.e. our family name is Steward, however it has gone down as Stuart, Stewart, etc. Also first names I have found have been written phonetically, was having real problems trying to find my G Grandmother on the census her name was Edna King - eventually found it as her sister had an unusual name Thirza - and it had been spelt Edner and her brother Bert had gone on the census as name - Burtking King. Now when I am looking for people I look for all different types of spelling. As you never know how someone has intrepreted what people have said.

Kevin, I couldnt help larfing thinking of the registrar/vicar saying to all your ancestors, 'And you are?' and their replies - it must have gone on for ages.

Overs/Over/Hovers.....From Oxford. All three surnames are the same family. A very kind soul on here told me this>>> 'I am Oxfordshire born and bred and I know that even now in the really rural parts of Oxfordshire an H is added to words that start with vowels so that probably accounts for the apparent changes in name.' In my next life...Im gonna be a SMITH ! LOL Gerri

I've seen registers where the details are corrected, often many years after the event. In one instance, the rector was old and a bit doddery. The young couple never thought to question him as he was the rector, even though he'd got both their names wrong. It was only when they needed a certificate, some thirty years later, that the details had to be changed.

On my Husbands side - his grandad was born Percy, Thomas, Fredrick Eke, (on birth certificate - Father Thomas Eke, - Stoker on HMS Adelaide) His name changed when he went to school to Thomas Norton, (on his marriage certificate his Father is down as Thomas Norton - Policeman) Don't think I'll ever get to the bottom of that one! Best Wishes Meryl

I was told that an Uncle (great) changed his name from McQuade to Wade because he was in the British Army and the name was deemed too Irish (by whom I don't know)

I have a marriage certificate where the groom's surname is down as Holloway in the main section, then as Hollowell (correct) as his signature. The vicar or registrar wasn't paying attention ...

In many cases, it seems the registrar simply wrote down the name of the bride & groom as said to him. Sometimes, of course, one or both of the couple couldn't read or write. I had great trouble finding my grandfather's marriage certificate. Not only had he been granted an 'e' on his surname, his wife's family name of Ewer had been transcribed as 'Your' - on each of the surnames of the bride, her father, and her sister(bridesmaid/witness). It wasn't till I did a phonetic search on FreeBMD that I came up trumps.

To say nothing of illegitimate births. I have ancestors where the presumed parents married after having three children, some carried on the mother's maiden name, some the (step)father. Even one case where on the 1881 census with (step)father's name but got married two year's later using mother's maiden name!

Gill I think you should consider yourself very lucky its only one letter! I have had a a variety for my Horstead side - Horsted, Hosted, Horstade, Horstus. and thats without ancestry mistranscriptions. In one lot of parish records the same guy had three different spellings for his birth, marriage and death!

Spelling mistakes still happen. On my daughter's birth certificate(1982) my name is spelt wrong. We didn't notice until we started looking more closely at certificates.

Hi, Surname spelling wasn't standardised until the beginning of the 20thC. I have signatures of ancestors on legal documents where the spelling varied from documant to document. It was also down to the whim of the parish clerk or registrar. Gwynne

We've got a few discrepancies like that, I've put it down to illiteracy, I know they can't write because of the crosses on the marriage certs. I think it just depends how the registrar thinks a name is spelt. Doesn't make life easy though. Suex

Hello Gill, don't think this would be anything but a spelling mistake as I have come across some doozies such as Esther becoming Hester, I some times think not only spelling but different accents and deafness might have ben a problem with some people working in the records offices I have a greatgrandfather who definatley changed his name though from Day when he married to after having seven children he became O'Day and so the next seven chidren were O'Days and then the children pleased themselves which name they used from then on their lives so I have had to look under both names for all of them as one who was one of the days I have just found his marriage and children and death all under O'Day too HELP, sure doesn't make it any easier Regards Laraine

Oh - and I nearly forgot - many of our ancestors simply weren't bothered about such things as correct spelling of names, correct ages on Census returns and so on. Dave

Hi Gill That is a VERY minor spelling change compared to some I've encountered in my family. Many other members here will have experienced the same! There are lots of reasons why names get recorded incorrectly. Poor handwriting - poor hearing - poor literacy skills. And in your case, perhaps the registrar writes down 'Vallance' automatically because that's how he/she assumes the name is spelled. Dave

It might of been a spelling error. Ive come accross the same problem. 1850s known as Samuel by 1870s known as Samuels. Julie

HI ALL. MY HUSBANDS GGRANDFATHER WAS MARRIED IN 1919 AND HIS NAME WAS VALLENCE, ALL CHILDREN WERE REGISTERED AS VALLANCE. WHY WOULD HE ALTER THE NAME. THANKS GILLx