Another Cross-check Question - Thomas BAIRD or OLIVER.....

[WilmaM]

I don't think this is related to the cross-checking topic on another thread.

I'm tracking down some OLIVERS.

I discovered by accident that 'Auld Jock' OLIVER may well have had a half sibling.

Birth was on the IGI so I found his BC in 1859 :
Thomas OLIVER, mother- Ann OLIVER, no father

I couldn't scare up a marriage anywhere so tried deaths with birth year around 1860 - 2 Thomas OLIVER results.

1st was his Cousin Thomas O son of Thomas O died single in 1884

2nd - a Thomas BAIRD k closer inspection revealed parents as
Thomas BAIRD [ reputed father] and Ann OLIVER both deceased
and wife Janet RICHARDSON.

I rechecked my searching;
Death, 1915, Linlithgow, West Lothian, birth year 1859

Thomas BAIRD =1 result
Thomas OLIVER = 1 result
Thomas OLIVER other surname BAIRD = 0 RESULTS
Thomas BAIRD other surname OLIVER = 0 RESULTS

So why would he be indexed under the birth name, that isn't used on the certificate AND under the surname he obviously used
but NOT cross indexed under both?

Did the registrar realise that he was 'officially' OLIVER and use that as well as the stated BAIRD or what ?

I'm a bit hazy on this [ though I'm sure it's come up before]

[LesleyB]

Hi Wilma
I may be wrong, but I'd always thought the cross check on surnames was a wimmin only thang? I don't know. I've never tried it with a male name.

Best wishes
Lesley

[sporran]

Hello Wonka2,


I would have liked to give a fairly definitive answer but I can not find any examples to support my case.

In computing terms, it is easy. The death was indexed twice, under Thomas Oliver and Thomas Baird. However, the vital aspect here is that "Other surnames" is blank, and therefore a search on 2 names will not find him.

In record terms, if he had been recorded as "Thomas Baird or Oliver", i.e. he had used both names during his life, then I think that he may have been recorded as married women are, as 'Baird other name Oliver' and 'Oliver other name Baird'. However, he seems to have used Baird throughout his life (informant was his son, who signed as a Baird), so I go along with how it was recorded.


Regards,

John