There are three kinds of marriage certs

[celia]

I think it must depend on what county/office it comes from.

1. Coppied from the original by Hand
2. Printed from the Original
3  A Photo copy.

I have all three,but about three years or more ago,i sent to Scotland for a Marriage cert of my G.Granfather who lived and worked in Lancashire all his life.It was Lancashire they returned to.My G.Grandmother was a Scot so they married in her hometown.In Scotland they give the Maiden names of both the mothers.So I could move on and find my G.Grandfathers mother.Couldn't I, It should not have been a problem but it was,i searched time and time again for G.G.Grandmother but never found her. That was Until one day i was contacted by a rootschatter who wanted me to look up someone with the same surname, Same spelling, and from the same place.No we weren't related but because he researched the same name.he looked up something in Lancashire for me,He was able to tell me that the Maiden name of my G.Grandfathers mother on the certificate was incorrect. It had been mistranscribed
and i was given the right name,i was very upset about the mistranscription at the time.However the person was forgiven when i started doing a bit of transcribing myself It isn't always easy. Has anyone else had this problem,i hope not and that mine was a one off.

Celia

[tazzie]

   Hi Celia......

  I also have been caught out....

  Hubbies grandfathers marriage cert gave g. grandfathers name as William also.... could not find them anywhere.....G.grandfather we then find to be Thomas....contacted office and got refund(cert had been copied by hand original was correct) they then sent correct cert.

    We also have another with wrong name for birth mother typed from original but totally wrong name. Checked the original in records office.

     Just because it's there in black and white it pays to check.

                         Tazzie

[Ecneps]

I have a marriage cert with completely wrong maiden name, which put me off the scent for ages.

However, having checked with the record office, it was transcribed correctly from the original, so was a mistake by the clerk at the time.  As neither bride nor groom could read or write, they wouldn't have known it was wrong.

Barbara
 

[amanda t]

I have a William Brooks whose father is listed as William Brooks on his marriage certificate but as Alfred Brooks on his birth certificate. It wasn't until I looked up the parish baptism records did I see that the vicar had written his father as Alfred William Brooks!   Occasionally he is listed as Alfred in the census and at other times William.  

Alfred William Brooks' father was listed as Henry Brooks on his marriage certificate in 1848. Yet there were no Henry Brooks in the villages around Newport Essex. From the baptism records there is no father listed, only his mother Mary Brooks who later married a Henry Goodwin. It soon became clear that Alfred William was born out of wedlock to Mary Brooks, took on her surname and stated his (step) father was called Henry (Goodwin) at the time of his marriage, the registrar mistakenly wrote Henry Brooks!  

Alas I have not been able to take Mary back any further, but it is always wise to check other sources.

Amanda

[Ninatoo]

If it a mistranscription of a name on the indexes at Scotland's People (in other words a human error), a contact letter will amend the situation. 

I had tried so hard to find the death of my Patrick, and although I knew where he should be and when, he never turned up.

Until I did a wildcard search and entered his name as P*k.  It came up....as PaRTick!  Looking at the registration, it is definetly spelled correctly, but someone had typed it into the index incorrectly.  SP were quite sympathetic about it and even refunded some credits if I recall, as it was their mistake, not mine.  And I believe they then amended the index for future searchers.

Nina

[Gadget]

Hi Celia

Are you sure that it was a mistranscription rather than the information given at the time of registration being wrong?  The certificates on Scotland's People are copies of the original entries and I have come across many instances in which the names of parents on marriage and death certs have been given wrongly at the time of registration by the informant.

Regards

Gadget

[celia]

quote Nina
If it a mistranscription of a name on the indexes at Scotland's People (in other words a human error), a contact letter will amend the situation. 

  I have never used Scotlands People,I sent direct to Scotland for the Marriage cert.By the time the mistake was found i thought it was far to late, about 18 months to do anything

Celia

[Gadget]

You could let me have the details and I'll see what they have online 

[Ninatoo]

Celia, if an error was made on the actual certificate you can have a RCE made on it.  It doesn't change the actual certificate but it does note that an error was made and it is stamped on the certificate at the offices to say there exists a RCE.  One I had was an incorrect date.  The certificate should have said 1868 but it said 1869.  The registration took place on January 18th 1869, yet his birthdate is stated as December 30, 1869.  I contacted SP and this has been verified and ammended with a RCE.