Name Change question *COMPLETED*

[Geoff]

Would anyone know the answer to my question

Would it be possible for a female to change her name prior to marriage and live her life with that
name without doing it legally ?
By that I mean, could she get through a marriage service and having her own family without ever having to prove who she really was ?

Thanks
Geoff

[Ruskie]

Probably. People can call themselves anything they want to.

However if you are thinking of this scenario as a way to make someone 'fit' into what you have found then you may be on the wrong track. Without knowing the details it is impossible to speculate.

If you tell us all the details you have, explain why you have come to the conclusion you have, then maybe you will get some help with this. It is useful to seek other opinions - people look at things in different ways and may come across something you have missed. So worth asking if you haven't already done so.

[Geoff]

The story:
This family changed their name from HENRY to LAVERICK {the surname of John's stepmother} when banned from all of Durhams coal mines around the early 1870's.  At that time they had two daughters and while they stayed in Northumberland and worked there, they used the name LAVERICK and had two more children.
When they finally returned to Durham circumstances must have altered, this allowed them to revert to their correct family name. However, the two eldest girls plus the younger sister kept using the alias when they left Durham for the bright city lights of London.  This is where they met two brothers, Charles a Schoolmaster being the catalyst that brought them all together.   The eldest girl Agnes was a school mistress so I would think it is a safe bet to say that they met at the school and took a liking to each other. At some time Charles introduced his brother Ernest who took up with the younger sister and married her in 1891. Three years later Agnes and Charles were married both of the girls stuck with the LAVERICK name.  Eleven years after the marriage of Agnes the youngest sister Florence married  the man of her choice, Mr Platt.  .

The brother of these girls was my wife's grandfather and most of this story came from him but the documents back up what he told us.  These girl's left home for the same reason he joined the Army as soon as he could, and that was to get away from their mother. The description he gave us of his mother comes over as a combination of the Wicked Witch of the West & Myra Hindley with a dash of Rose West.  To me that is enough reason to never want to be found as I could imagine. I can see why they kept that name and by making the change Legal they would have been traceable. I just wanted to confirm that it was possible to do without making it legal that is all.

Cheers
Geoff

[Ruskie]

Yes, quite common for people to be known by several names eg christened with one surname, father dies, mother remarries, child has stepfather's name on census, marries with birth surname, appears on another census with stepfather's surname and dies with birth surname. Just a fictional example though I have heard of similar real life scenarios.

[KGarrad]

Under the laws of England and Wales, a person can call themselves anything they like - just as long as there is no intention to deceive or defraud.

No Deed Poll necessary!

[Geoff]

Thank you for that K.

Much appreciated

Geoff

[Guy Etchells]

Would anyone know the answer to my question

Would it be possible for a female to change her name prior to marriage and live her life with that
name without doing it legally ?

NO!

Why?

Because (England & Wales) there is only one way to change one's name and that is to use a new name.
Everything else is simply a way to prove to third parties a change of name occurred.
This means as soon as she used another name she had changed her name legally.

By that I mean, could she get through a marriage service and having her own family without ever having to prove who she really was ?

Thanks
Geoff

Even as late as 1981 (when I married) there was no requirement to produce proof of identity to marry.
Cheers
Guy