Father Deceased on marriage cert but still alive?

[Gembar]

The father's details (name, occupation and whether deceased) are entirely dependant on the information given to the registrar by the parties getting married. They are not checked or verified in any way.

You can only speculate on why he was shown as deceased (anything from a mistake by the registrar, an assumption or belief by the groom,  or deliberate misinformation).

If we are dependent on unverified information given at the time, by our ancestors, are any of the certificates we have telling the truth at all. It certainly makes you think. Our family trees are compiled completely on trust.

[clairec666]

You can only speculate on why he was shown as deceased (anything from a mistake by the registrar, an assumption or belief by the groom,  or deliberate misinformation).

Very true!

I've found it twice in my family - in one case, I believe the parents had separated so maybe the groom believed his father was dead (in fact he died several years later). In the other case I have no idea why.

It's possible that the registrar put "deceased" next to the wrong father...

[pharmaT]

I've been mulling this over. I don't remember being asked for proof that my Dad is deceased when I married. He is, do have the death cert.

Certificates are the best evidence we have and I think most of the time they are reasonably accurate. So far all but the marriage I mentioned earlier a deceased father really was deceased. We just have to keep an open mind for these little blips.

[Billyblue]

Don't have the marriage certificates, but in the 1880s two of the siblings of my dad's mother were married and said to be 'daughter of the late Mr Charles Joseph Denys'.  But I have CJ Denys' death certificate and he didn't die until 1894!
We had heard rumours of a divorce but this is unlikely as it was hard to get divorced without a lot o influence/money, in the 1800s.

Dawn M

[clairec666]

Don't have the marriage certificates, but in the 1880s two of the siblings of my dad's mother were married and said to be 'daughter of the late Mr Charles Joseph Denys'.  But I have CJ Denys' death certificate and he didn't die until 1894!
We had heard rumours of a divorce but this is unlikely as it was hard to get divorced without a lot o influence/money, in the 1800s.

Dawn M

Maybe he deserted the family but they never actually divorced. His daughters may have believed their father was dead when they married (a tale their mother spun them?) or they just liked to tell people he was.

[Billyblue]

Who knows, Claire?
Among other things that have come to light, and the fact that none of us have ever been able to verify their claim that they were married in 1850 in New York, we are beginning to suspect that maybe they weren't married in the first place!
Both parties entered a second marriage after my GM was born, but the second marriage of CJD was either not known or not recognised, as it's not mentioned on his death certificate.

And he's the only person of that name that I have been able to discover in Australia in that period.

He's from France, and first wife was Swiss, second wife French. At least I have that (second) marriage certificate!   
Dawn M

[sleepybarb]

My Fathers older sister said my Grandfather was dead on her marriage certificate. I suspect she had fallen out with the family at the time.
Barb

[Thornwood]

I have the opposite problem; an ancestor of mine names his father on his marriage certificate and also gave his occupation but I have the death certificate for the father four years previous to the marriage. His wife is also recorded as a widow on the census three years before her son's marriage. Surely father should have been recorded as deceased.
Thornwood

[RJ_Paton]

I have the opposite problem; an ancestor of mine names his father on his marriage certificate and also gave his occupation but I have the death certificate for the father four years previous to the marriage. His wife is also recorded as a widow on the census three years before her son's marriage. Surely father should have been recorded as deceased.
Thornwood

As said earlier, the information recorded can  only be as good as the information provided (and in many cases open to interpretation afterwards  )