Zaph,
I've got one marriage record (for my husband's ancestors) that has the fathers' occupations switched.
Another marriage record (my great-grandparents') states that the bride's father was an actor (he was a bricklayer).
The marriage records for the children of one of my ancestors either lists their father's actual given name or his nickname and his occupation varies. I've found documentation for the names and the occupations but, without those, I would not be certain these were all children of the same man. (It took a while to put it all together.)
I've got marriage records for the children of two other ancestors: some list either a different given name or a slightly different middle name or an entirely new middle name for their father.
One of my husband's ancestors was illegitimate. Her marriage record lists a father's name that turns out to be her own surname (her mother's maiden surname), plus her stepfather's given and last names (for example, let's say her surname was Cook, and her stepfather's name was John Smith: her father's name was recorded as John Smith Cook). I don't know if she gave his name as such, or if the minister misunderstood, but it took me a while to sort that one out, too.
My great-grandmother gave birth to my grandmother in a maternity home. In her papers, her father was listed as dead (he wasn't) and she also gave them the name of a half-brother, which sent me on a merry chase, only to learn that he wasn't related to her in any way.
My great-grandfather's sister was married twice. Her first husband died. Her marriage record to her second husband gave her married surname as her maiden name. She had children with her second husband. On those children's birth registrations, she listed her first married surname as her maiden name. I was in touch with one of her grandchildren, who informed me that his parent's birth record listed the mother's maiden surname as (the first husband's surname), therefore I was barking up the wrong (family) tree and we were not related. In this case, I had other family records and knowledge of her surname from her second marriage, and it's an unusual name, so I didn't give up on trying to prove the relationship. Later, I was able to purchase copies of the birth records from the GRO, and three out of four had been amended to list the mother's actual maiden name.
People -- including clerics and registrars -- made mistakes; people gave differing information based on their own personal knowledge; and sometimes people lied. When every single detail doesn't line up correctly, the best we can do is make our case for why we believe a record is the correct one. Someone else might not accept our reasoning but that's okay.
Regards,
Josephine
