Find Ancestors

Hello

This is just a general question and your thoughts would be appreciated

I have an 1867 marriage cert for a Sarah Evans who was my husbands 2nd great grandmother. She is age 21 and her father is shown as Richard Evans..................
I have discovered that her mother was born Martha Onions and married a William Harper in 1832 and Sarah was born c1846. William Harper died between 1841 and 1851 (On the 1851 census Martha is a widow and Richard Evans is the lodger........they married in 1854.)
Sarah is called Harper on the 1851 and 1861 census.

Does anyone know if its likely she just started calling herself Evans instead of Harper and "lied" on her marriage cert or would she have changed her name officially. If she did change her name officially where would I find any records?

Christine

She would not have changed her name 'officially' at that time.

It was perfectly natural for children to assume the name of mother's new husband, especially if they were quite young when the second marriage took place.

Dea x

Dea

Thank you :-)

Under English common law, all that is necessary to legally change one's name is that one stops using the old name and starts using the new name, and that there be no fraudulent intent. Until she were 21, it would not be Sarah's decision, but Martha's.

You had the option of having a lawyer draw up a contract you made with yourself that you were going to do just that, and pay the lawyer for drawing up the contract, and having it notarized - effectively, that is what a deed poll is - but why bother. It's not like Sarah Evans would need to claim Sarah Harper's driving licence entitled her to drive, or Sarah Harper's 5 GCE O-levels were really hers, or whatever - cheaper documentation would be to place an ad in the Madeley Post-Intelligencer or whatever, but I don't see her bothering with that either.

mgnv

Thank you for the info

Christine