Birth Cert - Mothers name?

davidm_uk · Post by **davidm_uk** » 21 Aug 2006 16:33

A birth cert that I've just received shows the 'Name, surname and maiden surname of mother' as 'Margaret Hinks late Pritchard formerly Pritchard'.
Could someone explain the late and formerly bits please, I've not come across this before.
Thanks, David.

ID:1776

YouTube · Post by **Jane** » 21 Aug 2006 16:36

I haven't seen them both before, but as far as I know, they normally imply the mother had been married before, in your case probably to a Pritchard.

SunnyLady · Post by **SunnyLady** » 21 Aug 2006 18:21

One of my connections has this on a birth cert for a daughter born in early 1860s - she was widowed, and was in a new relationshop but not yet remarried (which she did later on!). So in her case the names were of her present 'husband', her former husband (deceased) and maiden name

Tombaston · Post by **Tombaston** » 22 Aug 2006 07:46

I have one where the mother is listed as Sarah Wagstaff late Wagstaff formerly Day. So in her case she was born Sarah Day, married one Wagstaff and was widowed then married a second Wagstaff. I have all her birth and marriage certificates to confirm this and it also ties in with the censuses at the relevant dates. Her father's name was the same on all her certificates

So in your case Margaret was born Pritchard, had a first marriage to another Pritchard then married Hinks. It took me four years before I found the One Name Study for Wagstaff to find how my great great grandmother Sarah's two Wagstaff husbands were related. It turns out they were sixth cousins twice removed, which I very much doubt they knew.

davidm_uk · Post by **davidm_uk** » 22 Aug 2006 12:56

Many thanks for your replies.
Presumably the 'late Pritchard' implies that her first husband died, rather than they divorcing?
David.

SunnyLady · Post by **SunnyLady** » 22 Aug 2006 15:10

I don't know the answer but my guess is that as divorce until after the 2nd world war was relatively rare in the UK and then mostly by the wealthy who did not have to worry about social stigma, its most likely that the 'late' probably translates as deceased. Post WW2 marriage certs usually refer to 'divorced husband/wife' of [name]. In my case, cited above, I knew she was widowed before I got the cert of the daughter by [eventually] second husband.

Tombaston · Post by **Tombaston** » 22 Aug 2006 16:28

It is likely the first husband was dead rather than divorced due to the reasons pointed out by SunnyLady, but I think late is meant to imply lately as in recently. If you look up late on the Compact Oxford English Dictionary on line at http://www.askoxford.com/, one of the definitions is 'no longer having the specified status; former'.

So I think it is saying the mother was formerly known as Pritchard rather than she was the widow of the late Pritchard. Her first marriage to Pritchard ought to be reasonably easy to find and her second to Hinks would be between the first and the birth of the child. If the dates are in the 19th century then I would recommend using the online censuses first to narrow the range of years down.

With my great great grandmother it was fairly easy to find the certificates as she lived in a small village and her father had a very unusual first name. The censuses later confirmed this.

Family Historian User Group