Change of name

[Wee lassie]

Does anyone have any idea why a man would change his surname. On a relatives death certificate it gives name of her first husband as Howlett or Durrant. I have her marriage to Edward James Durrant in 1909 and a birth of a son Edward James Howlett in 1913. No sign of either name on 1910 census.
Any suggestions would be most welcome

[GrahamSimons]

Possibilities include:

1. To gain an inheritance: sometimes money or land was bequeathed on this condition (I have details of one of those in my extended family)
2. To maintain the wife's surname if she was the last of the line
3. To conceal something (previous convictions? previous marriage?)
4. On a whim

The first three might lead you to an interesting story; the third would be illegal, but not unlikely; the fourth is pretty likely to lead you to a brick wall!

[alpinecottage]

If a child was illegitimate, he would be registered under his mother's maiden name.  Then if the child's mother married either the child's father or another man, the child may then use the father's/step-father's name.  Alternatively, if a child's father died while the child was still young and his mother remarried, the whole family may thereafter use the new husband's surname.  Either way, the child could end up being known by and using either of his two surnames.  In the past and particularly before about 1900, there was much less need to stick with a consistent name than there is today when we have to keep track of taxes, pensions, medical records etc.

[avm228]

Both Edward James Durrant and Olivia (Nixon) are rather elusive before and after their 1909 marriage in Liverpool. Have you been able to identify them prior to marriage to ascertain that they were who they said they were?

[avm228]

I see that Edward James Durrant (21) was an architect's clerk when he married Olivia (20) in 1909.

What was the paternal occupation when Edward James Howlett's birth was registered in 1913?

[Wee lassie]

Thanks for replys.
This is a very confusing family to follow (my husbands side not mine!!!). Graham I can discount 1 and 2 and have a feeling 3 is the reason. Olivia had changed her name before marriage. Her mothers name was Nixon which she has used but her father was given as William Peter Leaky on birth certificate. In 1891 census she uses name Quigley as her mother is living with Henry Quigley cant find a marriage. In the 1901 census she uses name Ryan as she appears to have been adopted by her Aunt when mother and sisters moved to Dundee. She then marries and becomes Mrs Durrant in 1909 but cant find any sign of them in 1911 census. Son is born in Birmingham in 1913 by which time they are using name Howlett. She then marries again in 1922 to a Edward Oliver Augustus Moore in Liverpool. She thens moves to Edinburgh and dies in Dundee. Olivia therefore has had 7 names during her life!
No wonder I am confused.
The other confusing thing on the birth certificate of son Edward his fathers occupation is given as master watch maker. To have gone from architectects clerk to master watchmaker in 4 years seems unlikely. Her son later takes on the name Moore from second husband and becomes Edward James Howlett Moore.

[avm228]

Does Olivia call herself a widow when she marries Mr Moore?

Have you found Edward senior (as Durrant or Howlett) in any record other than the marriage cert and 1913 birth cert?

[avm228]

Another question: have you an address for the 1913 birth and have you investigated who lived there?

[Wee lassie]

I do not have the actual marriage certificate but on her death certificate it says that she is a widow of Edward Howlett or Durrant. I dont have birth certificate of Edward junior either just info from Ancestry   which gives registration district as Birmingham.