1939 register surname changes

[BettyofKent]

With regard to the surname changes on the 1939 register, from where did the new names come?
Was it from official records of marriages (GRO?) or just from, say, Miss Brown telling her doctor her surname was now Green, & the doctor perhaps assuming she had married & so her name was changed on the records?

[Treetotal]

Here is the explanation Betty..

An additional benefit of the information contained in the 1939 Register is that the surnames of women were regularly updated upon their marriage because the Register continued to be updated until 1951 and then, after this, by the NHS from its inception in 1948 until they began to transfer their records to computers in.

I too wondered why my Mum's name was changed on the 1939 register from here maiden name to Her married name.

Carol

[BettyofKent]

Thank you Carol, I know why women who married had their new surnames noted on the register, I am wondering where the notifications came from, official records or the women simply notifying the doctor's surgery of the name change without having to supply proof.

I ask because I have a relative's surname changes on the register but I cannot find a record of the 2nd marriage, so am wondering if they were living together & she simply called herself by her partner's surname.

[rosie99]

There are some amendments that do not appear to have been supported by official documentation.

My mother married in England in the mid 1940's but her married name has not been added to the register in spite of the fact that she made regular use of the NHS after its inception 

[Andy J2022]

My understanding is that all the changes were made centrally in response to information from the General Register Office, and for as long as rationing (1939-1954) and ID cards (1939-1952) were operating, from the Ministry of Food and the Home Office respectively .

[JenB]

I ask because I have a relative's surname changes on the register but I cannot find a record of the 2nd marriage, so am wondering if they were living together & she simply called herself by her partner's surname.

This can definitely be the case.

My husbands mother left her family in the 1960’s and went to live with another man. She took his surname (no deed poll involved) and the name change was noted on the register, the date showing on the register being shortly after they began living together. Presumably this took place after she had registered with,  for instance, a new GP.

[rosie99]

My understanding is that all the changes were made centrally in response to information from the General Register Office, and for as long as rationing (1939-1954) and ID cards (1939-1952) were operating, from the Ministry of Food and the Home Office respectively .

Presumably new ration cards would have been issued to newly married women, but I thought they would also be amended/reissued for those who were pregnant or had moved house. 

[Galium]

Registering a name change with the NHS doesn't require any proof of a marriage.  All you have to do is tell them what your name now is.

 Before 1971 (when divorce law changed) a woman living with a man she couldn't marry because an existing spouse refused a divorce would generally  use his name as though they were married - with a resulting change in the record.

[BettyofKent]

So it looks like a simple name change to that of the man she lived with, thank you all for your answers.