Massive Mystery .... Spanish Immigrant???

[cath151]

The 1939 register gives a birth date, he is transcribed as Gwendolene.
Cathy

[Luckyme]

Bizarre! Maybe it's a child of his?

[Luckyme]

Which register have you read that on, Cathy? Is it births? I'm confused x

[cath151]

It is the register compiled in 1939 before WW2, available on Findmypast.
We are not allowed to give details due to copyright but his name Gurvilliem was mis transcribed as Gwendoline. The register gives names of family members , occupations and dates of birth.
Cathy

[cath151]

Do you have his marriage certificate from 1910 when he married Elizabeth Kate Douglas and if so any clues on there?
Names, addresses, occupations etc?
Cathy

[Luckyme]

Ah right! We know he was a fireman at a paper mill. We don't have any actual certificates as I want to know that they'll give information that we don't already have. I know he had to sign at the police station every week during the war so I wonder if I can see those records?
The story is that he arrived in Dingwall (there's a few in the UK!) via ship and that his father was the captain. I've searched and searched and still haven't found anything to suggest this story was true, other than the fact that one of his sons appers to have joined the merchant navy.
I keep wondering what happened that was so bad that he came to the UK, changed his name, and never went back to Spain ever again. And what did the guy at the Embassy mean? And why did his wife have to hand his documents in there when he died?
Strange!

[Rena]

<<We are trying to find out where the DeOwenslly/De Oweneley Came from.>>

It's probably a mis-transcription, or the surname was written down as it sounded.  Unfortunately I don't speak Spanish and don't know how they pronounced their words, so can't hazard a guess.

However, I do know that an English relative who married a Spanish girl once tried to explain their unique surnaming customs and it went over my head.  I recall the mother's surname is included in the child's full surname.  It's tempting to think that "Owen" points to one of the parents being British, but it could be an incorrect spelling?

Here's the Wikipedia webpage that explains the Spanish custom

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_naming_customs

. and here's a website that lists Spanish surnames

http://www.familyeducation.com/baby-names/browse-origin/surname/spanish

Good luck.

[Luckyme]

Thanks! I'll give those links a read. I had thought perhaps it was a phonetic spelling of a Spanish name...There's actually an English(?) surname of Oweneley.
I wondered if they'd picked up on that and added a "De".

[PrawnCocktail]

Just a thought, but have you tried looking for harbourmasters records at all?