sanderson/swann

[kevinpill1]

I was wondering whether anyone could help me with a puzzling problem I have concerning a person I am researching at the moment.

It concerns a marriage certificate I purchased. The details of the groom on the certificate reads: Eric Swann Sanderson otherwise Christopher Swindlehurst Swann.

He was born in 1891 but the birth record is for Christopher Swindlehurst Swann, there are no records for Eric Swann Sanderson until the above marriage in 1949.

An earlier marraige also shows Christopher Swindlehurst Swann in 1917. He also appears on the 1901 and 1911 census.

Finally, on the death register in 1950 he is known as only Eric S Sanderson.

My question is why would someone change their name and then put both on a marriage certificate and then the changed name only on the death certificate.

I would be very grateful for any imformation or advise on a way of resolving this.

Yours Sincerely

Mr.Kevin Pilling

[Merry]

Hello Kevin, welcome to the forum.

I expect the person who registered the death saw no reason to mention any previous names to the registrar.

Once Eric/Christopher had changed his name (be that by deed poll etc or just choosing to use a different name, which is still legal in the UK as long as the change is not for an illegal purpose) there would be no particular reason for him to state his birth name when he married, but this may have happened because of the way he was asked the question. For instance, if the registrar/vicar asked for his birth name or asked for his name and then asked if this was the name he had always used and the reply was 'no'!

I've moved your thread to our Research board where it may attract more responses.

[kevinpill1]

Hi

Thanks for the info. One thing I had forgotten to mention is he had 2 daughters with the person he was married to in 1949. They were given the name Sanderson, was that not a problem also?

[Merry]

So the children born to the second wife were born before the second marriage?

At registration the name of the father would be given by the person registering the birth (where the parents were a married couple). The registrar would not know the father had ever had another name unless he/she asked the right question.

In theory (!) if the parents were not married and the father was named on the certificate then the registration should show up on the General Register Office index under both the surname of the father (Sanderson) and the surname of the mother. However, this doesn't seem to be the case with the births for this couple (I just looked) so I would presume they pretended to be married when the births were registered. This was an extremely common occurrence at that time period.

[kevinpill1]

hi

yes the children were born before they were married, however i think they could'nt get married until 1949 because he was probably still married to his first wife.On the marraige certificate it states that he was the divorced husband of lydia snowdon swann.

what surprizes me is that his daughters and grandaughter( who was put up for adoption) were not really called sanderson they were called swann, is that not the case?

[Merry]

When you say the children were called Swann, do you mean they grew up being called Swann in everyday life, despite being Sanderson on their birth records?

I suppose it might lead to a few questions being asked, but that's about all. Do you know which surname Eric's widow used?

[Merry]

On the marraige certificate it states that he was the divorced husband of lydia snowdon swann.



I expect it was the mention of this bit of information (having been asked his "condition") that led to his birth name being included on the second marriage certificate.

[kiterunner]

Do you know exactly when he changed his name to Sanderson, Kevin?

[Merry]

Do you know exactly when he changed his name to Sanderson, Kevin?

There are some 1924 patent documents in his birth name (google) and the first child from the second relationship was registered as Sanderson in 1940.

[kevinpill1]

hi
sorry i gave the wrong info. The 2 children grew up as sanderson as they were named on the birth certificates. Erics widow norah patricia fairall, she was known as pat and remarried fred douglas in 1953. i dont know when he started using the name eric sanderson but he was named only that othat was then the birth of his second daughter so i assume it was the case for the first daughter. he was a journalist in sunderland at some point between 1911 and 1920 so i have tried to get info from local newspapers of that period.

[Merry]

There's a biography for him on Scoop, but I don't have access:

http://www.scoop-database.com/list/atoz_journalist/s

[kevinpill1]

thank you for your help merry much appreciated