Genealogy Chat

Could someone enlighten me please. I have got gt gt grandfather's marriage cert with his and his father's surname as 'Coyne', but cannot find a birth entry under that spelling. I have found one which looks promising (right year and area) but with the spelling COIN. In the 1861 cenus they are down as Kind and the rest of Coyne. Was it possible to have different spellings on such important documents? Appreciate help and advice. Sandra

Sandra The fact that a census or a certificate is an official and important document does not guarantee that the information on it is accurate. It depends upon the person giving the information, the person recording the information and the person who gave the information checking it, assuming they know how it was spelt in the first place. I actually have a marriage cert in which the groom's first name is incorrectly spelt and he signed it correctly immediately underneath. Lots of mistakes are made. I would suggest that you order the COIN cert using that spelling as it is how it has been indexed, but putting his father's first name as a checking point to make sure its the right one. Incidentally, just to show you aren't the only one with problems, my husband's great-grandfather was unable to get his own birth cert as the GRO couldn't find it. His name was Carter and he has 3 different birthplaces on 3 different censuses. Kind people on GR found his family the census before his birth listed as McCarthy! I have found various birth registration indexes for Carter and McCarthy and none of them are his!!!!! Nell

Maybe the person who registered couldnt read or write, so its down to the registrar or the enumerator on how he decided it was spelt I have several certs where its X (their mark) on them Shirley

I'd say if it's the right area and time and you can't find it under Coyne, then the Coin entry is probably the one. Is this on 1837online which is complete? Kath. x

Looby, If you say ,,,Coyne then Coin,,,,,,,how do they sound????and maybe as its an Irish name perhaps if with accent that is what was heard...Coin/Coyne, Any Irish in there???? Kay,

Hi Nell, thanks for that, I think I'll order the Coin cert as you suggested as see what comes up. They sound the same whichever way you spell the name. No it's not on 1837 online, I tried Ancestry, Family search and Free BMD all the same. So far no Irish connection - as yet. Really appreciate all your help, Happy Hunting, Sandra

My grandmother and 3 sibs were registered in the 1890s as CONE although the family before and since are generally COAN (but CONN on 1901 census!).

Looby Loo My Gt Grandfather's marriage certificate states surname as Hewins but with help from people on this board I found his birth registered as Huens. So I would definately order the certificate. Helen

I have my grandmother birth cert. It says Constant Ruby Douglas sex boy.So mistakes are made.Perhaps you can order from the local reg office and not GRO. The local office sent their bmds every few months to GRO.I suppose the mistake could be made that way. Margaret

On 'official' docs my Cheal family are down as Cheal, Cheale, Cheel and Cheele, so I am pretty sure this is your man.

I also have this problem. Eliza Lippiat / Lippitte / Lippate on various census. Someone on the Records Board found her birth for me yesterday under Lippeart! I am going to order the birth cert and use her father's name as a checking point. Lynne

i also have had that happen to me i have had relatives whose name was hodgitts and have been put downs as hodges, hodgkinson and hodghill so i think it is all down to the cenus taker. good luck love linda xx

I have a birth cert with both the family name and the mother's maiden name having a different spelling! CHEERS is recorded as CHEIRES and EMMETT is recorded as HEMMETT. All the other documents I have found for this family have the correct spelling. Another interesting one is a marriage certificate I have with the groom's surname having been recorded with 2 different spellings (he has signed with X). I have found that you are always better to make other enquiries if you think you have found the right record because mis-spellings are very common. I suppose it makes searching all the more interesting! Annette

Hi Everyone, Thanks so much for your interesting comments. I really appreciate all your help. It is interesting and frustrating at the same time and I never knew how common spelling mistakes were untill I started on my FH. It's lovely to hear that we are not alone in this and it's given me encouragement to keep at it. I shall now use my noggin to it's erm! full potential!!!! and think of new ways to spell surnames. Thanks to all of you. I've just ordered the certificate. Regards Sandra

It all depends what you classify as the 'correct' spelling. If the subject could not read or write, then any spelling which phonetically gave the correct sound could be taken as 'correct'. So any time up to the end of the 19th century you can expect variations on a theme, so to speak. So maybe my Sherwoods should still be Sharwoods; my Worboys should be Warboys; my Cowleys should be Coleys; my Lazells should be Layselles; and so on.