As a partial favour/partial gift to two co-workers (sisters), I offered to do a quick family tree for them going back a few generations. Surprisingly (and a little annoyingly) their family has been pretty easy so far to trace. However I've run into a little name change and I'm not sure how to approach it. I'm mostly looking for help either uncovering documents that might register the change (though unlikely), or any ideas/general reasons why they might change the family name?
I have the Prince family in the 1911 census, 44 Lombard Street, Barry:
Henry Prince (b. about 1861 in Shropshire) working as a Lamplighter.
Margaret Prince (b. about 1867 in Penarth). They've been married about 25 years with 9 children, 8 still living.
Richard H (23, born in Cogan)
Ralph (20, born in Barry)
Alice (19, as above)
William (17, as above)
David (15, as above)
Thomas (14, as above)
Ida (8, born in Penarth)
In 1904 I find baptism records for William, David, Thomas, and Ida. All listed as Prince, abode listed as Y Persondy (The Parsonage).
In 1901 they are at 22 Lombard Street, as above but minus Ida and plus another daughter, Sarah (14, born in Penarth).
In 1891, it took a bit of hunting but here they appear to be, living in 24 Work Street, Cadoxton with another family (the Clarkes. Oddly enough daughter Sarah marries a Clarke, though I've yet to find if he's from the same family).
Henry (b. about 1863, born in Shropshire) general labourer
Margaret (b. about 1867, born in Penarth)
Sarah (4, as above)
Henry (who could be Richard Henry or the child who died by 1911) (2, as above)
Ralph (7 months, Barry)
Seems to fit, except now their surname is Fowler. The scan is not great quality but it's not a mistranscription. I've had a brief look through bmd for Fowler births for those children, and there are matches in the index for the right sorts of years, and no close enough results for those earlier children but with Prince as a surname.
Diolch for any ideas/hints/help!
EDIT: So another little search later and looking at ancestry's suggested documents, there's a birth and baptism for a Henry Prince. Then in the 1861 English census, a Henry Fowler/Prince appears. Emmanuel Prince is the head of the household and Sarah Fowler is a lodger, with three children, Samuel, Alice, and Henry. Samuel is listed as 'lodger son' while Alice and Henry are daughter and son. In the baptism Emmanuel is listed as the father. BMD tells me an Emanuel Prince married a Sarah Fowler in 1864. So was Henry born out of wedlock and named Prince once his parents married, changed his name mid-life to his mother's maiden name, then back again? It appears now that all of his children are registered on their birth certificate as Fowler, but later when daughter Sarah marries, she's Prince. Why?