Mistakes on marriage records

[markheal]

Mistakes are human, we all make them!

A recommended read for us all........

There is a vast documentation of the omissions and errors in the civil marriages recording system based upon a 1 per cent sample at the GRO.

The two volume research project published in 1998 by Michael Whitfield FOSTER as 'A Comedy of Errors or Marriage Records of England and Wales 1837-1899'.

This deserves to be re-published as now second-hand copies have become very sought-after and therefore expensive.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Michael-Whitfield-Foster/e/B001JSCDBG%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share

[BumbleB]

Every time I appear on RootsChat, I say it -

He/She who never made a mistake, never made anything.

[Sloe Gin]

Thanks all, so far.
Wivenhoe, we are both debating the image of handwritten document.
Zaph

Is it a post-1836 marriage certificate, and if so, is it a copy from the church register or local register office, or is it a copy from the GRO?

[Rena]

When I had the occasion to give information in person to the local registrar I was informed that if I wanted to change anything I had to do it quickly before the volume was completed and a new volume opened up. otherwise I'd have to pay for the Registrar having to search for the original volume entry.   Maybe our ancestors knew about some errors but hadn't noticed until  much later when they knew they'd have to pay to have changes made.

Last week, I posted a photo online of some old pals.  I wasn't certain how to spell one person's surname, was it Rege----" or "Regi----"?   So turned to the Yorkshire bmd website.  Surprisingly there was no sign of his marriage or birth. I then turned to the freebmd website and thankfully the pal's name was listed where it should be and it was "Rege----" .

The Yorkshire bmd site had translated the surname as ROCHESTER .   When on earth does an "eg" look like "och"?

[Zaphod99]

Thanks to all contributing. I think I can show my cousin that an alternate or diminutive form of a name is quite common, and that real errors are more common than she or I thought.

Sloe Gin, it is the church record that is in question.

I now realise that first name abbreviations were common, and might have been wrongly expanded by a vicar, such as Edw., Geo. Etc. I also found this document very useful, although it specifically refers to GRO errors.

Handout: Just How Accurate is the GRO Index? & How to Locate ‘Missing’ Entries
A Talk by Celia Heritage
 www.chfh.co.uk



Zaph