Are parents marked as deceased on marriage certs if they are

[mandmck]

Hi,

I was presuming, perhaps wrongly, that if the parents listed on a marriage certificate were deceased this would be written, but following my research today I am now not sure. Any advice would be great.

Many thanks

[joette]

The answer is who knows? You would think that people would be honest on an official document but in my experience they are not for whatever reason.Maybe they say Parents are dead because they are ashamed of them,there has been an estrangement or a desertion.Maybe sometimes they just didnt know-people seem to think that broken families are a modern trend but this has gone on down the ages.Maybe we are a bit more honest when it comes to officiladom nowadays but I feel that is because we are so documented it is difficult to lie- in days past it was easier as often nobody asked for any official proof. I have a Great-Grandmother who fabricated a whole family life for herself which didnt exsist.Maybe even the Registrar got it wrong so dont take as gospel that a person is actually Dead/Alive because it says so on a Marriage or other Certificate

[mandmck]

Too true Joette,

Thanks for this. Finding out that about your great great grandmother must certainly make for interesting researching!

I notice among your family lines you're researching the surname Brown. I've just struck a Brown on a marriage certificate in Scotland. A Christina Brown married a William Nicol probably around the 1840 - 50's. I would say if you come across anything, but then again I imagine the name Brown is a bit like searching for Smith.

Take care.

[DavidWW]

In general the information on whether or not the parents are shown on the marriage register entry as deceased or not is reliable, certainly more so that on the English equivalents.

That written, as in this case, there will be situations that you come across where the information supplied has been wrong or deficient. Remember that up to the 1930s the registrar, on most occasions, didn't have control over the situation, and was reliant on the minister or priest having filled in the marriage schedule correctly.

David

[sheilajim]

Hi Mandmik

On my mother's parents Wedding Certificate, it listed only the paternal grandmother as deceased. My assumption that both the maternal grandparents were alive, made me spend more money on SP in my search for them ,than I should have. It turned out that both maternal grandparents of my mother were dead at the time of her parents marriage. Only the paternal grandparent was alive at the time.

You can't take anything for granted.

Sheila

[DavidWW]

Hi Mandmik

On my mother's parents Wedding Certificate, it listed only the paternal grandmother as deceased. My assumption that both the maternal grandparents were alive, made me spend more money on SP in my search for them ,than I should have. It turned out that both maternal grandparents of my mother were dead at the time of her parents marriage. Only the paternal grandparent was alive at the time.

You can't take anything for granted.

Sheila

Sheila

The way to handle this situation is to start off by assuming that the information, inclusing the lack of it, is correct, but, as soon as a record based on that assumption can't be found, to have at the top of the list as a next step a search based on the assumption that the "(deceased)" information is wrong or missing.

On the basis of very many such searches over the past few years, I'd estimate that something less than 10% of "deceased" designations or lack thereof are wrong.

That's not to say that in one tree you won't come across a much higher percentage

David

[mandmck]

Thanks to both of you,

I think David is right. I don't know about you Sheila, but I have found that I can get into a bit of a dream researching and when on the ScotlandsPeople site keep saying yes when there really is a much better research strategy I could be utilising. It is no doubt the double-edged sword of internet based searching. I think the key now is a cycle of sitting down with the records found and working out a sensible research strategy and sticking to it. The old "if yes" do this, "if no" do this type of thing.

Thanks again.

Mandy

And David, I will hope that my family falls in the norm and does not exceed the 10% ratio.

[Lizzie]

Some years ago I found my gg grandmother gave birth in 1853 to a daughter at Edinburgh Maternity Hospital. I have a copy or her admittance in which she states both her parents are deceased. I accepted that until I found her Marriage to another man in 1858 of which only her father is deceased. Now I am searching without much success for her mother in Kintail.

My guess is she would not want her mother to find out she had an illegitimate child in Edinburgh.

Lizzie

[DavidWW]

As a different example of the "assumptions" situation apart from the parents being shown as deceased or not on a marriage register entry, - many moons ago when I was researching my own family tree, it took me several years to find the death register entry of my ggrandfather John WEBSTER.

The "assumption" in this case was the the Montrose Year Books showing his wife as a widow from a particular year were correct, - not absolute proof in terms of the frequence of occurence of her name in Montrose, but the address was the same as earlier year book records.........

But then there was no trace of such a death.

Only after some effort did I then "challenge" my assumption based on the year book entry, and soon found his death in Dundee some years later, the informant being a nephew.

Reasons? One can but speculate !!, - cause of death was cirrhosis of the liver ..........

The 1901 census wasn't yet available at the time of this search. When it did become available later some years later, it turns out that John was a lodger, - the only one, - in the household of a widow of a similar age only a couple of streets away from his self declared "widow"

Make your own deductions ! Absolutely no information has come down the family to explain or clarify the situation ..........

The lesson to be learnt?, - if at first you don't find the record that "should" be there then challenge your assumptions.

David