Silk mercers and upholsterers

[silicondale]

This is a simple question about credibility and likelihood. Is it credible and likely that someone who was a silk mercer who went bankrupt in 1820 might be described as an upholsterer in the marriage certificate of his son in 1838 ?  Or is the upholsterer's trade one that requires a different set of skills ?

The question arises because the father vanishes from written records. If an upholsterer perhaps he travels from one job to another for different wealthy customers, leaving little or no trace. The silk mercer did at least have a fixed address and was listed in land taz records.

Any thoughts appreciated !

[Jebber]

It’s not unusual to find fictitious information on certificates, particularly marriage certificates.
 
Just one example, my mother in law was illegitimate no father is mentioned on her  first marriage certificate, didn’t even know her mother’s name at that time  as she had never seen her full birth certificate until  I ordered it.  She was brought up in foster care. On her second marriage she names her foster father and his occupation which was definitely not true.

 I have lots of examples where information was untrue on certificates, no checks were made.

[silicondale]

Thanlks for the reminder, Jebber! I have a few like that too - I guess most of us have. But in this case the father is named and is real, he's just disappeared from the records since his son's baptism in 1810, and doesn't even get listed in the 1841 census, yet the marriage certificate doesn't say he is deceased. The son is a tailor - but maybe he didn't even know his father's trade if they were no longer in touch. If Dad had been a silk mercer during the son's childhood, he would have been selling his wares to upholsterers, so maybe the son thought that was his trade.

[Biggles50]

My first thought “a white lie” to cover up the stigma of going Bankrupt.

Have you looked to see if he ended up in a Debtor's Prison?

[silicondale]

Hi Biggles, and thanks for the suggestion. One that I hadn't thought of, but should have done! Another ancestor was in debtors prison (twice) despite having two jobs - he was a customs officer and also a potato dealer.

[mckha489]

I don’t see why not. He would have been familiar with fabrics.
Worth using as a working hypothesis at the very least.

[MollyC]

Marriage registers do not always record "deceased" even though he was.