Author Topic: Mother of David Arnott (born 1826)  (Read 773 times)

Offline heatherrr

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Mother of David Arnott (born 1826)
« on: Wednesday 29 November 17 15:17 GMT (UK) »
Hi, I have Arnott descendants - mostly in Scotland - but I'm having some problems with David Arnott (born around 1826 in Ireland - unsure which part).
He was living in Scotland by at least 1849 until he died in 1900.

He had married his second wife in 1870 and on that cert his father is listed as Alexander Arnott and his mother is listed as Elizabeth Shannon.
On his death cert, his parents are Alexander Arnott and Helen Costerley. Why the different mothers?

I've found some records for an Alexander Arnott (son to an Alexander Arnott and Elizabeth Shannon born around 1833) which say he was born in Downpatrick.

Not really sure what to do next. Would this fit in with anyone on here?

Offline Elwyn Soutter

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Re: Mother of David Arnott (born 1826)
« Reply #1 on: Wednesday 29 November 17 16:33 GMT (UK) »

On his death cert, his parents are Alexander Arnott and Helen Costerley. Why the different mothers?



Probably because the information on the death certificate is wrong.

Parents’ names on a marriage certificate generally come from the groom or bride.  Most people are well acquainted with their parents and so generally that information is going to be fairly reliable. However with death certificates, the person registering the death may not have known the deceased’s parents very well, or indeed at all. (Especially if they lived in Ireland and the deceased lived in Scotland). So sometimes the information is wrong because the informant made a mistake. Where there is a discrepancy like this I generally favour the marriage certificate information over the death certificate.
Elwyn