I have the wrong surname

[Clare A Ross]

  Hi

I have been researching my fathers side of the family and my surname, which is Ross on my birth certificate.

I have just discovered that my Great Grandfathers surname, was not Ross, he was born and registered as Thomas McDill, but when he had a child (illegitimate, my grandfather) the name put on the birth certificate was Ross, his mothers husbands surname, not the surname of the father whoi was Thomas McDill.

So my blood line is actually McDill, not Ross as I had thought and so I wondered what that means with regards m surname, which was assumed mistakenly, for social reasons at a point in history, am I a McDill or a Ross, because I am not sure whether if the fathers actual surname is not put on the birth certificate , then does that make it invalid?

[stanmapstone]

Hi

I have been researching my fathers side of the family and my surname, which is Ross on my birth certificate.
 but when he had a child (illegitimate, my grandfather) the name put on the birth certificate was Ross, his mothers husbands surname, not the surname of the father who was Thomas McDill.

Hi Clare, welcome to RootsChat 
How do you know that it was his illegitimate child? What was the date?

The Registration Act of 1875 states:
"The putative father of an illegitimate child cannot be required as father to give information respecting the birth. The name, surname and occupation of the putative father of an illegitimate child must not be entered except at the joint request of the father and mother; in which case both the father and mother must sign the entry as informants"

Therefore a man could only be named as the father of an illegitimate child on the birth certificate if he consented and was also present when the birth was registered.

Stan

[charlotteCH]

Clare, Welcome to rootschat.

Yes, Stan's question is the starting point... so?

charlotte

[stanmapstone]

The legal presumption is that a child born to a married woman is a child of her husband, even if that is not actually the case.


Stan

[Clare A Ross]

Hi,

I went to Register House in Scotland and found a birth certificate that makes me unclear about my actual surname.

You see my Great Grandfather, was commonly known as Thomas McDill Ross (1884-1960), his son my grandfather was also a Thomas McDill Ross(1911-1949) and his son, my father Barry McDill Ross. I am named Clare Ross.

But when I found the birth certificate of my Great Grandfather (1884-1960), he is registered at birth as being the illegitimate son of Thomas McDill (1849-1922)  and Annie Ross (widow of John Ross who is not the father and who died four years previously). It actually states those things on the birth certificate and his name on his birth certificate is Thomas McDill, the same as his father.

It seems that my Great Grandfathers widowed mother Annie Ross 1849-1915 (Ms Gallagher), had him  in 1884 with a different father than her other children, who were legitimate Rosses, after John Ross (1849-1880) had died. His father is named on his birth certificate as Thomas McDill, from Ayrshire, Scotland. I suppose that if he lived with his mother and her Ross children, he would have assumed the name Ross, for social reasons. But in fact he was a McDill, as per his birth certificate.

When my great grandfather Thomas McDill (Ross)(1884-1960) himself met a woman and had a child ,on his childs birth certificate he wrote his name as Thomas Ross, even though his name was really McDill. So what has happened is that he put the incorrect surname on the birth certificate of my grandfather, maybe because he didnt want anyone to know he was illegitimate and wanted to be known as a legitimate Ross, whatever reason, it wasnt his real name, it was his mothers married name, but not his fathers given name, or the name on his birth certificate. He just assumed the name and put it on his sons birth certificate and that is where the mixup has occured and why I am not sure what my name is.

[stanmapstone]

I did not know it was Scotland. As you see I state My answers only refer to England and Wales

Stan

[Clare A Ross]

Hi, yes thanks anyway though.

I suppose I need to find what the law in Scotland is with regards to someone putting a false name on their sons birth certificate. There is the possibility of course that his mother never told him who his father was, and that he always assumed he was a Ross, and never saw his own birth certificate and so honestly by mistake put his name as Thomas Ross, instead of Thomas McDill on his sons birth certificate.

If anyone out there knows where that leaves his descendants and their names, I would be very interested to find out. It is a mistake on a birth certificate essentially, whether intentional or unintentional and so I guess I need to find out what the law in Scotland is with regards such a mistaken identity.

[behindthefrogs]

As far as the legal position is concerned you can call your self whatever you like as long as there is no fraud involved.  Thus a person who has always called themselves Ross is a Ross and someone who has always called themselves McDill is a Mc Dill.

David

[Hackstaple]

Clare - your surname is that which is accepted by the Registrar of Births. He is not required to look into your ancestry, nor should he, Therefore, you are a Ross.

If you want to become a McDill you have several legal ways of changing your name. They may be different in Scotland to those that apply in England.
I doubt that anyone can say for certain who exactly their gggrandfather was. We can only know what is stated on certificates.

We have some odd stories in my own lines going back 3 or 4 generations.

Enjoy Rootschat.