* Another Marriage Status Query

[andrewbraid]

I have a first cousin, a few times removed, who was illegitimate and no father is named on the GRO Birth Online Index. However, she married twice and on both certificates a father is named. I am not sure what status to give to her parents. I assume it's Never Married or Unmarried Couple but if there is a difference between the two I fail to see what it is. Can somebody explain to me please.

[ColeValleyGirl]

I use Never Married for my mother and her (unknown) partner who fathered my eldest sister.

I use Unmarried Couple for a longstanding relationship between another sister and her partner who fathered my second-eldest niece -- they were unmarried but lived together longer than many marriages last these days.

[E Wilcock]

This may not apply in your case.
However, I encountered similar in a family who were ancesters of some of our grand children.
There was such stigma atached to illegitimacy that when a father's name was needed for a marriage certificate, one was rapidly invented.
The UK system was much freer than e.g., Germany where both parties were often required to produce their birth certificates and the birth names of both their parents.

[Jane]

It's always worth checking the FH help, as it's contains lots of good advice. It says

Below the Spouse files are Marriage fields. They display details of when and where the current Individual married the current Spouse (if they did marry). The Note field allows you to edit or view a note about this marriage. The Status field should normally be left blank. It is used to record non-default status information. You are encouraged to treat 2 individuals who never married as if they were a married couple if:

(a) you wish to record the fact that, although they never married, they are or were a couple

(b) they had one or more children together

If you wish to record the fact that, although they never married, the ‘spouses’ were a couple, you should set Status to “Unmarried Couple”. Sometimes individuals have children without ever having a serious relationship as such. You should handle these cases using the catch-all “Never Married” value.

Where a couple divorced and then remarried, or separated and then got back together, you can record these events in the Facts tab. But the Status field should be left blank (i.e. the default) in these cases as it represents the final or last-known status of the marriage or relationship.

[tatewise]

The difference between Never Married and Unmarried Couple has been explained.
However, as Evelyn says, treat fathers named in a Marriage Certificate with caution, especially if recorded as deceased, unless you can find some other corroborative evidence.

[andrewbraid]

Thanks to all.

I searched the Knowledge Base but not the FH Help. My brain is getting addled with lack of activity!

The name is spelt differently on both certificates so perhaps it was fictitious. I'll do some more digging.