William Ovington or Huffington b q1 1839 Ganthorpe

[Cockneyrebel]

The above married Ann Winn or Wynn q4 1859 Pocklington and appears to have had 5 children with her 1861-1874 plus she had one already Mary Jane Winn born before their marriage.
The problem is that their name seems to have either been recorded wrongly or been changed by the family as at 1861 it's Ovington, 1871 Hovington, 1881-1901 Huffington, and he died York 1905 as Huffington. Ann died in 1888 as Ovington and William married again in 1900 as Huffington. The original children seem also to have changed their surnames.
Do you think it was a name change by deed poll (did they have them in those days?) or just out of awkwardness for us ft researchers?
Cr

[BumbleB]

Firstly:  spelling was not quite so strict in those days.

Secondly:  If the person could neither read nor write they wouldn't know whether the names was spelt correctly or not.

Thirdly:  accents played a significant part in the interpretation of names.

[CaroleW]

Bumble Bee is spot on

I researched the FH of a relative and found his origins in Derbyshire.  I had considerable difficulty with the surname as the births of children with the same parentage were registered with different spellings

Surname was Mauldridge - spelling varied tremendously due to the level of illiteracy in those days and probably a strong dialect   

[Treetotal]

I agree with what has been said already and have one or to names that have mutated over time...people often wrote what they think they heard..my irritation is Antony, Antoney, Anthonie, Anthony. Burrell to Borrill and Bucknole to Bucknell then Bucknall.
Carol

[Cockneyrebel]

Thank you all for your remarks that have helped me greatly, I can now further research the family and their different names more confidently.
Cr