Thanks for your reply. I have only found his birth cert under the name of James Harrison in 1864, no father mentioned. I only know his mother is Isabella Harrison as she is listed as the mother on his marriage cert. He appears to start using the name Gerrard later on though. I think I have got the right person but could be totally wrong as am working on a lot of maybes. If I have followed the right Isabella Harrison she died as a pauper in 1893 at New Deer. She seemed to have several children to different fathers. James appears as living with his mother in 1871 census at New Deer and then no trace but we have James "Gerrard" in 1881 census and 1891 census - I am assuming I have the right one this time as living the same place as domestic servant is Jane Jamieson who he married in 1991. Whether he legally changed his name to Gerrard or not I do not know. A bit of a mystery here and a bit of unwillingness to acknowledge the truth on the certificates I feel. Sure this happened a lot but very frustrating to progress. Most Gerrards in the area are from Aberdour, very few are in New Deer area and they certainly seemed to escape the census. Thanks for taking the time to reply.