Listed as both grandmother and mother

[Hlbharr4]

Hello I am researching my family tree and am looking for a way to work through this problem - thank you for your help in advance!

My great grandad John Harrison has a birth certificate that says he was born 2/11/1897. His mother is listed as ‘Rebecca Harrison domestic servant’ with no listed father.
I have found Rebecca Harrison living at the same address in Egton Bridge in the 1911 census (when she was age 65) living with her mother (Jane Wright age 88), her son (John William Harrison age 25) and her grandson John Harrison age 13 (my great grandfather).

In 1911 Rebecca was a widow and her husband had died in 1903 after having many children together.

What should I do if Rebecca is listed as both his mother on one document and his grandmother on another? At the moment I’m assuming that my great grandfather was illegitimate and his grandmother Rebecca pretended to be his mother. If this was the case, would the birth certificate be falsified or should it have his real birth mother on it? How would I go about finding his real mother and father?

Thank you for your help!

[PaulineJ]

Track Rebecca (65y in 1911) back.
Did she herself have a daughter Rebecca?

[BumbleB]

I would suspect that John is the son of one of her daughters, although I can't readily see a daughter called Rebecca.

1901 - RG13/4558 folio 41, page 4
John Harrison - 63
Rebecca - 53
John W - 17
Robert A - 15
Mary Spencely - 5 - granddaughter
John Harrison - 3 - grandson

1891 census - RG12/3993 folio 43 page 7
John Harrison - 53
Rebecca - 45
Annie - 16
Hannah - 12
David - 10
John W - 7
Robert - 2

[BumbleB]

Annie Harrison married Francis James Spencely - 1895 - Whitby Registration District

1881 Census:  RG11/4832 folio 8 page 8
John Harrison - 43
Rebecca - 33
Mary J - 10
Emma - 8
Annie - 6
Hannah - 2
David - 3 months

[rosie99]

Egton parish register has a baptism for a John Harrison - abode Peat House, Egton
Birth 2 November 1897 - Bapt 3 December 1897 -Mother Hannah (Singlewoman)

ADDED This would tie in with Hannah who shows in the 1881/1891 census posted by BumbleB

[Ayashi]

What about the name of the informant on the birth cert? Was it signed or marked? I'm sure people got flustered sometimes, especially if it was a young single mother already anxious about being judged or if the question was worded badly and the informant was illiterate. Asking "mother's name?" could produce a response of her mother's name, not her own, for example. I'm sure a few of us have had errors in this way- I have a marriage where the bride had been pretending to be his wife for about ten years and three children and chose to marry under his surname; her father's forename on the cert is correct but has been written with her husband's surname and not her birth surname so I suspect something similar happened there.

[BumbleB]

John Harrison married Rebecca Wright - 1869 - Whitby Registration District

1871 Census - RG10/4845 folio 47 page 14
John Harrison - 31
Rebecca - 26
Mary J - 0

They are living with Rebecca's parents William and Jane, plus their children.

[Hlbharr4]

Egton parish register has a baptism for a John Harrison - abode Peat House, Egton
Birth 2 November 1897 - Bapt 3 December 1897 -Mother Hannah (Singlewoman)

ADDED This would tie in with Hannah who shows in the 1881/1891 census posted by BumbleB

This is useful thank you so much! How did you obtain the baptism certificate please?

[rosie99]

Egton parish registers are on FindMyPast