death certificates

[A bairn]

Hi Caroline only one of the children is registered under the husband's name,he left shortly after the child's birth and was later adopted by the real father.The second child does not have the father's name only a statement that the mother has had no contact wiith her husband for three years.The second child, a girl, was legitamised in 1915 when the mother and her lover married.By this time both parties declared themselves to be widowed.It appears it was not customery to have to produce death certificates for the late spouses, a statement to that effect would have been sufficient.
Maureen

[carolineasb]

Maureen, do you mean they stated the real father of the second child at the time of registration of birth and then later re-registered the birth of the child at Court after their "marriage" (although I don't know if I've got this wrong but you think that they weren't free to marry as their spouses were not dead?)?

Caroline

[A bairn]

Hi Caroline you do seem to be getting awfully confused, I'll try and make it clearer.The birth certificate of the first child gives the father as the husband she was still living with, he left shortly after.Two years later she had the second child.That birth certificate does not name a father only a statement making it clear the father was not her husband whom she'd had no contact with for 3 years.Both children are registered with the surname of her lover as well as her married surname which is not the case with the children she had by her husband.The eventual marriage of the woman and her lover legitimised the children.My query re death certificates was to discover if the couple would have to produce death certificates to prove they were widowed but it turns out a declaration to that effect was at the time sufficient.Things were not so tightly regulated then as they are now.Perhaps it would help you to read the history of marriage etc in Scotland. Maureen

[carolineasb]

I am confused!  From your original query, you seemed to be alluding to the fact that the lady and gentleman had stated that they were widowed but actually weren't and, therefor, were not free to marry as you were asking what they would have to have produced at their "marriage" and so I thought you had not been able to find death certificates for their first spouses.  If you did not intend to allude to that then I am wrong and apologise.

I am quite well aware of the laws of marriage in Scotland