Did you have to produce baptism certificate in order to get married??

[SharonK]

I ask this question for a couple of reasons 

Firstly I have a Jane Ann Harrison who was born to her single mother Mary Harrison in 1856. Presumably she was baptised as a Harrison although I haven't found this record as yet. She is listed on the 1861 census as Jane Ann Wharton because her mother married George Wharton in 1858. Obviously he probably didn't adopt her as such but she did seem to be using his name. When she got married she called herself Jane Ann Harrison and left the father's name blank. Could she not have put George Wharton down seeing as he brought her up from the age of two or would she not have been 'allowed'? Would she have had to use the details from a baptism certificate which would have had a blank father's name (most probably)?

Also - and perhaps more intriguing! - I have an ancestor called Thomas Hindle Beck. He was born in 1833 to William Beck and Ann (Hindle). Ann's father was called Thomas Hindle and so he was named directly after him it seems. I had the devil's own job finding Thomas' baptism even though I had found two of his siblings at the Chapel St Independent in Blackburn. THEN I discovered he had been baptised as just Thomas Hindle (no Beck), his parents automatically listed as William Hindle/Ann. I had also had great troubles (previously posted on here!  ) with finding Thomas Hindle Beck's marriage to Alice Kenyon c1854/55 until I found a Thomas Hindle marrying an Alice Kenyon in Bolton. The father's name for Thomas is correct as William and so is his father's occupation; William was a tailor, so I am assuming I have the right certificate. I'm just wondering if he married under the name Thomas Hindle because that was the name given on his baptism certificate and that was what the registrar uses, even though his full and proper name is Thomas Hindle Beck? Would his marriage have been 'legal' being that his 'real' surname wasn't used?

Thanks for any insights :-)

Sharon

[stanmapstone]

You did not.

The name on the Marriage Certificate is the name by which the person is commonly known at the time of the marriage. Under English Common Law you can adopt any name as long it is not for fraudulent purposes.

If either party has adopted or is commonly known by a Christian Name or Surname other than his or her true name or surname then both names should be recorded in the register with the word "otherwise" between them. But this will only happen if the person filling in the register is told the names.

Stan

[Tricia_2]

I have a relative known by his mother's husband's name on the census, but using, presumably, his father's name on the marriage certificate.

I have another, who simply invented a father when he married ~ it's a good thing I know the truth, otherwise this could have sent me on a real wild goose chase.

I have another who assured me of her father's extremely youthful age at marriage. Another wild goose chase!

Illegitimacy can cause a lot of problems for the researcher!