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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => Topic started by: DRS on Sunday 08 August 10 15:38 BST (UK)
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Hi. Does anyone know if there is a way of finding out about someone changing their name. I have a couple of conflicting names on my family tree from around 1873-1897 and the only thing that could explain it is a name change, although we haven't worked out why a change would have happened in the first place. Any suggestions would be welcome!
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In law a person can change his or her name simply by using a different name with sufficient consistency to become generally known by that name, as long as it is not for fraudulent purposes. A change can begiven formal publicity, e.g. by means of a statutory declaration, deed poll, or newspaper advertisement, but this is not legally necessary.
Stan
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Have you searched The London Gazette? A bit of a long shot but worth checking out :)
Heather
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You do not have to have any legal formalities to change your name. You can call yourself what you like, provided you aren't trying to defraud anyone.
My husband's gt gt grandfather changed his surname from McCarthy to Carter between 1866 and 1871. I assume its because he was in London and there was a Fenian (pre-IRA organisation) explosion in Clerkenwell in 1867 which caused a lot of anti-Irish feeling. Not sure why he began calling himself James when his name was Dennis though - perhaps Dennis was connected with Irishness too.
More confusingly one of his children remained as McCarthy and two of his daughters married with McCarthy as their name.
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We've got a major headache. We have a Henry Oliver Goldsmith Stowell marrying in April 1897 saying his dad is Henry Stowell (deceased). Thers is no record of HOGS before this and the only entry we have on record is the 1901 census living in Poulton cum Seacombe, born in Bolton 1873. Any ideas????
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Who were the witnesses at his marriage?
Freebmd shows there is a Henry Oliver G. Smith b. Bolton Sep 1872 quarter. Could this be him?
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Maybe HO was illegitimate but knew his father was called Stowell? Or he might have been brought up with a stepfather called Stowell.
Have you tried looking for Henry Stowell in censuses - does the marriage cert give his occupation?
Are the witnesses to the marriage any clue?
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http://pilot.familysearch.org/recordsearch/start.html
- there's also a Millicent Goldsmith Stowell marriage in 1908 which also lists her father as Henry Stowell. Similarly, no birth under that name.
Also interesting is the Robert Smith Stowell marriage to Esther Helles Goldsmith in 1870.
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,471580.0.html
- I see some work has been done on this family already. The same occupation between Henry Smith and Henry Stowell is telling; also note that there's a Henrietta Stowell living in the Poulton area in 1901 of the right age to be the same as Henrietta Smith in 1881.
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Dear all, many thanks for your help on this subject so far but things have taken a more confusing turn. We now have the birth certificate for HenryOliver Gould Smith for 17th August 1872 in Blton. Father is Henry Smith, Plasterer, mother is Elizabeth Smith nee Orton. The only marriage I can find for Elizabeth is to a Henry Smith Stowel (single L) in March 1882 in Salford. Any ideas/help, pretty please???????
DRS
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It sounds likely that Henry Smith Stowel(l)/Henry Smith was the same person; his family might have used both names.
It's not that unusual for a couple to marry after the births of their children.
What were the addresses on his birth certificate? There should be two: one for where he was born, one for the address of the informant, who was probably one of his parents. They may be the same (typically means a home birth).
In the other thread a likely family has been found in 1871 and 1881 with father as Henry Smith (plasterer) and two older sisters.
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We've got a major headache. We have a Henry Oliver Goldsmith Stowell marrying in April 1897 saying his dad is Henry Stowell (deceased). Thers is no record of HOGS before this and the only entry we have on record is the 1901 census living in Poulton cum Seacombe, born in Bolton 1873. Any ideas????
I have a picture of Henry oliver goldsmith stowell who is my great grandfather, the goldsmith comes from further down the line when a family member married Abraham Goldsmith who was a Taylor from Norfolk