Genealogy Chat

A friend has a birth cert from Scotland for her mother which she wanted me to explain. I have no experience of Scottish certs. Can you help? See Below .........

Names changed because the lady is living. Mary Smith White, born in Glasgow Dec 1919 Father’s name: James Alan White Mother’s name: Mary McDuff White, previously McCloud, MS. Robertson married July 1919 We take this to mean the mother had been married before to Mr McCloud and her maiden name was Robertson. HOWEVER - some of her children carried the middle name McCloud (not surname as they would have had from a previous marriage) so we are wondering if there’s some other meaning of the MS. Can anyone familiar with the Scottish system throw any light on this please? Anne

Hi Anne I would have interpreted it just as you did. However I have a friend whose father's marriage certificate (names have been changed just as you did) shows John Smith formerly Jones. It turned out that John Smith's parents never married and his father died before he was born. For legal reasons (no father to acknowledge paternity) his birth was registered with his mother's surname but he was always known by his father's. Not exactly the same situation but might be something similar. Have you tried looking for Mary Smith White's parents marriage certificate. That (if it's in Scotland) should give the names of her mother's parents and might throw some light on the matter. Margaret

Have you checked the births of the other children. Sometimes, these days, when a mother takes on a new partner, children arrive at school with the partners surname added. So Jane Brown's mother marries John Smith and Jane is amended to Jane Brown Smith. Just a possibility Beth :)

MS definitely means 'maiden surname'. Kath. x

Anne, My guess would be that her maiden surname was Robertson, that being her unmarried mother's surname. Subsequently her mother married a McCloud and this surname was 'adopted' (it may have been her real father, hence perpetuating the name with her own children). The birth certificate of Mary Robertson would throw light on that. Ian

Thanks for your help everyone. I'll pass the info on to my friend. Anne