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Messages - Andrew Tarr

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1
The Common Room / Re: Double Marriage?
« on: Today at 15:25 »
Marriage in a religious ceremony after a previous marriage in a register office is quite common and specifically allowed for in the legislation (from the Marriage Act 1856 onwards I think)
My own daughter, although not religiously inclined, wanted a church wedding but not in her own parish church.  So she chose a registry marriage on a Friday followed by a blessing service in a church a few miles away.  I doubt that will appear in the church's register however - even though the deputy organist from Canterbury was accompanying ...  8)

2
The Common Room / Re: GRO page, after "maintenance"
« on: Today at 12:50 »
As a former IT professional, my take on this (and similar issues) is that changes aren't tested properly before a software release.
It's called beta-testing by the public.  ;D

3
In one branch of my family, everything further back than 1851 relies on one 16 year old girl who was living with her grandmother instead of her parents and siblings.  She’s the only person I can find who fits, ...
That sums it all up.  When records become hard to trace, or 'fuzzy', one is easily led into accepting one that 'fits' best.  The real problem may be that no genuine record ever existed, or now remains, or has not yet been put on line or transcribed anywhere.

4
Every so often a new thread pops up on this topic.  I trained as a scientist, so I learnt the approach that while I may be happy with my own results someone else's may (one day) prove them wrong.  Luckily my own tree contains mostly people with unusual surnames so I am satisfied with my searches, and try to maximise internal consistency.

Unfortunately self-righteousness seems to be an increasing trend these days, and many people prefer to believe what they want to believe, and may not happily accept others' suggestions that they may be mistaken.  Usually I don't bother trying to correct those views.

5
The Common Room / Re: Old Houses / Todays houses
« on: Thursday 09 May 24 09:32 BST (UK)  »
I don't think I have actually asked to see any ancestral homes, but I have taken a few passing photos.  My parents' house, nearly-new when I was born, has been extended and its surroundings are now quite different.  My maternal grandmother's family settled in Liverpool, and all their town homes are long gone, but she retired to Crosby, shown in the centre of this family photo taken in ~1910; my grandmother is on the right and my mother is the little girl.  The young lad signed up for WW1 but was killed by a train before getting there  :'(.  The other shot was taken about 100 years later and the house doesn't seem much changed.

6
The Common Room / Re: Birth registration rules in 1901 UK
« on: Tuesday 07 May 24 10:55 BST (UK)  »
I also thought that they had 6 weeks to register a birth at that time but I am sure someone will verify what it was 
Since the GRO's recent attack of relative generosity I have worked through much of my (fairly modest) family tree, recording dates of registration against dates of birth.  A few parents went straight to the registry after a day or two.  The great majority waited until the sixth week, one or two of them apparently arranging a baptism on the same day.  So the evidence seems to be that 6 weeks has been the requirement since registration began.  Very occasionally a parent seems to have forgotten.

It seems that my ggg-grandfather made a habit of going from his farm into Ashburton to register his children as soon as he could.  A boy and a girl (twins) were registered with names the next day in 1842, but the father had to return just 5 days later to register the boy's (this time anonymous) death.  The likelihood of that happening was perhaps the main reason for the typical wait until the sixth week.

7
The Common Room / Re: Gentlemen Only Funerals in Wales - Why?
« on: Monday 06 May 24 09:25 BST (UK)  »
"Utter Rubbish !"
Well, that's religion for you.
And, as Viktoria suggests, much of religion beyond historical facts recorded in holy books, becomes superstition when ritualised.  My belief is that most religion originated as attempts to explain unusual or extraordinary phenomena.  Science has revealed causes for many such things, so most people are much less superstitious now.  Sadly a good deal persists as culture wars rather than proper 'religion'.

8
The Common Room / Re: Accuracy of marriage records
« on: Sunday 05 May 24 23:29 BST (UK)  »
But if the information may be inaccurate then I will not take it as fact.
As most of the details on a certificate are answers to a recorder's questions, some of which may have been asked in various ways or not at all, a good deal of them should not be 'taken as fact' in a strict sense.  In my wife's tree is a man who married twice about 5 years apart, and was apparently younger the second time than the first - probably because the first marriage was to a noticeably older widow who reduced her age while he augmented his.  And we all know about variable surnames : I have seen a certificate for a lady named Heywood who quite clearly signed herself Hayward.

9
The Common Room / Re: Gentlemen Only Funerals in Wales - Why?
« on: Saturday 04 May 24 09:36 BST (UK)  »
Widows wore "widows weeds", which meant that they wore dark mourning clothes for at least one year.
As many still do in Mediterranean countries, for the rest of their lives.

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