Does anyone know ..............

[Terri]

............. when you registered a birth in the 1940's, did you have to produce a marriage certificate? (Assuming you had one!)
Thanks.

[JBee]

Don't think you ever had to produce a marriage certificate to register a birth.

[Terri]

So no proof of being married was needed then ..... it was perfectly possible to lie about your marital status!
Excellent .....! ;)

[Lancashire Lady]

don't think you actually needed proof of ANYTHING

OH's tree has a baby born/registered in 1947 but we (and several other family members) have our doubts about who the mother was ;) :D

... and obviously, if the mother's name wasn't correct, then neither is the father ...

[Terri]

I was talking to a cousin who showed me his birth certificate - he was born 1947 and his mother's name is down as xxxxxx, formerly yyyyy. I was a touch bewildered as I had already looked up her marriage and know for a fact it was in 1951!

Trouble is, cousin (clearly oblivious to this!) asked if I had found their marriage and (being a wimp) I had to lie and say no ........... :rolleyes:

[kiterunner]

It could be that she changed her surname before getting married; I have one or two in my family who did that.

[Nell]

Just because something is written on a cert or in a parish register or anywhere "official" it doesn't mean it's correct. It was quite easy to pass yourself off as married when you weren't. In fact, the birth cert doesn't state parents are married it just gives the mother's surname and "formerly yyy" or whatever, she could quite legally have chosen to call herself xxx if she wanted.

[Olde Crone]

Until very recently, the Registrar didn't require proof of anything at all.

The stern notice displayed in his office about going to jail for telling lies was supposed to be sufficient!

Scottish birth certificates on the other hand, sometimes carry the date and place of marriage of the parents, but that too is self reported and I have at least one Scottish birth cert where that bit was just made up on the spur of the moment! Other Scottish birth certs state baldly "illegitimate", lest there be no mistaking the evidence.

OC

[JBee]

I had failed to find a Scottish marriage in 1916 until I quoted the date and place of marriage from the daughter's birth record to the GRO.

Don't know why it had proved to be difficult to find.