Father Deceased on marriage cert but still alive?

[pharmaT]

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  )

Also even if information is given accurately you have to rely on the registrar recording it correctly. In the days of hight illiteracy levels and automatic respect for authority it was less likely that people would have the chance to correct any errors by the registrar.

[frostyknight]

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.
Thornwood

In my experience this is quite common, especially in Ireland, I've quite a few certs like this.

[AntonyMMM]

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

If the registrar (or vicar)  remembered to ask the right question  ......

[pharmaT]

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

If the registrar (or vicar)  remembered to ask the right question  ......

Good point Antony. When I got married I was asked my dad's name and occupation (former if retired) but not if he was still living. It was me who brought it up.

[Jo.]

The registrar has to ask the questions...

My sister who is a registrar preformed  my marriage ceremony, and when it came to filling out the register,  she explained that even though she knew all my details She still had to by law verbally ask me the questions and I had to verbally respond


When you consider any of the registrations,  be it birth, marriage or death,  the information given can be considered as here say...

It's assumed if a women is married, when she or the husband registers the birth of a child, that the father is the husband.... How many times has that been wrong?

Marriages are the same, how many people lied about their ages so they didn't have to gain parental permission to marry?

Deaths, are slightly different as a doctor will confirm the individual has actually died, just the rest of the information concerning full name and age can be slightly out due to what knowledge the informant has of the individual.

So how accurate our trees are, isn't just dependent on our skills as researchers, but if or how many fibs our ancestors told in there time

[RJ_Paton]

Deaths, are slightly different as a doctor will confirm the individual has actually died, just the rest of the information concerning full name and age can be slightly out due to what knowledge the informant has of the individual.

This wasn't always the case - A medical certificate was not always required and the further back you go through the 19th century and beyond the less chance of having that medical certification or pronouncement.
(for example, in Scotland a Doctors certificate only became compulsory around 1910 although Friendly Societies and Insurance companies had required them for a good while before that and people especially where access was easier tended to call the Doctor in voluntarily)

So how accurate our trees are, isn't just dependent on our skills as researchers, but if or how many fibs our ancestors told in there time

Catching them out is part of the fun 

The bottom line though is that even if it is written/typed on an official piece of paper it does not necessarily make it true