How reliable are certificates do you think?

[Bill749]

I had an aunt whose sister taught her to write her name so that she could sign her marriage certificate in the early 20th century - her mother would not let her go to school.

I've also got a marriage certificate which shows a totally ficticious father as the individual concerned did not want to admit to being illegitimate.

Regards, Bill

[indiapaleale]

Bill,

And..I think that that is the clue....

Certs are as reliable as the information given...

If the cert has false information.....it is probably not the registrar's fault.

And there the puzzles begin!

[Guy Etchells]

Surely that should be the registers are as accurate as the information given.
I got a copy of the certificate (Scottish) for my mother's second marriage, she is down as
Anita Elizabeth Imy or Gittens even though her mum and dad are shown with the surname Guy.

After photocopying it I sent it back and the new cert came back with the name Guy.
Mistakes do happen even when they shouldn't.
Cheers
Guy

[frenchdressing]

I've had some weird and wonderful spellings of the name Clementson. I've also got a first name written as Jno. Any ideas on what it stands for?
All the info you give to new people like me is a great comfort and help. I'm learning all the time.  Have you got any tips on books relating life for working classes in the 19th and 20th century?
Regards,
Pat

[Bill749]

Hi Pat

Welcome to RootsChat.

Jno is an old abbreviation for John, stemming from the days when registers were written in Latin.  It is quite common up to the 18th century.

Regards, Bill

[Comosus]

Jno is a short way of writing John (even if all it does is lose just 1 letter).

I have a certificate where both the first and last name of thw wife is wrong - She was Ann Birkhead but married as Hannah Birkitt.  It certainly made it harder to find.

[frenchdressing]

Thanks a lot for the info.
Another question if I may. I've found out recently that my gt grandfather was born out of wedlock and was registered under his mother's name (that's why I couldn't find him). His mother married a couple of months later so can I safely presume that the husband was the father? He took the husband's name but I don't think it was ever done officially. But, should I be called Clementson or not and can I assume that the Clementson family are my ancestors?
Regards
Pat

[loo]

I have a marriage where the surname of one of the witnesses is totally different on the marriage certificate from what is in the parish register - it's a man, so it's not a question of married vs maiden name.  So sometimes it pays to look at both sources for clues.
I also have a known illegitimate birth, where the mother seems to have invented the father's name, and doctored her own, so that the child ended up with her surname but appeared to have two parents, which he did not in practice.  I wish I knew why she chose what she chose.  She's gone now, and her son doesn't know either! 
Does anyone know how the parish registers and the certificates fit together, in terms of when they were filled out, and by whom?  I have wondered if the clergy did them both, or whether there was someone else involved.

[Bill749]

think you could be on dodgy ground there, Pat!  I wouldn't be too quick to make an assumption like that without further evidence to back it up.

Regards, Bill