Find Ancestors

Sorry - Its the same records as FreeBMD and the mother's maiden name is only shown on the index post 1911. It will only be shown on the certificate.

Hope its the right one

I think it is K thanks. Im wondering if his mum married but the guy wasnt his father, hence the clarke went in the middle not the end.

Even that I dont understand, as if catherine and John had other children they were clarke and he was ratcliffe and he could have avoided that situation.

many thanks

I checked the Cheshire FreeBMD site as well.That sometimes lists the mothers maiden name, sadly not in this case

I wonder if this is John and parents in 1871?

CLARKE, John Head M 23 1848 Cheshire Ag Lab
CLARKE, Catherine Wife F 20 1851 Staffordshire
CLARKE, John Son M 4 1867 Cheshire

Piece: 3705

Folio: 74

Page: 17

Registration District: Congleton

Civil Parish: Newbold Astbury

Municipal Borough:

Address: Brownlow, Newbold Astbury

County: Cheshire

The father John in 1881 is listed as a widower with a daughter Annie aged 8 as well as son John and by 1891 the father appears to have remarried and is now working as a domestic gardener

1891

Name: John Clarke
Age: 45
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1846
Relation: Head
Spouse's Name: Elizabeth Clarke
Gender: Male
Where born: Astbury, Cheshire, England

Civil parish: Newbold Astbury
Ecclesiastical parish: Astbury St Mary
Town: Newbold Astbury
County/Island: Cheshire
Country: England

Street Address:

Occupation:

Condition as to marriage:

Education:

Employment status:

View image

Registration district: Congleton
Sub-registration district: Congleton
ED, institution, or vessel: 19
Neighbors: View others on page
Piece: 2846
Folio: 4
Page Number: 1
Household Members:
Name Age
John Clarke 45
Elizabeth Clarke 30
Annie Clarke 18
Alice Clarke 6

Surely the name John Clarke Ratcliffe would be quite normal if the mother was a Ratcliffe (unmarried) and the father's surname was Clarke.
It was common for illegitimate children to bear the father's surname as a middle name.

And then since mum and dad later got married, the Ratcliffe was quietly dropped.

The GRO index (at FreeBMD etc) lists the mum's Maiden Surname on births from 1911q3 on.
However, the GRO isn't the only place you can buy BMD.certs - you can also buy them from the local registery office, and some of these have their own online indexes - see http://www.ukbmd.org.uk/local_bmd

In particular, http://www.cheshirebmd.org.uk/ are retro-fitting the mum's MS, although they haven't started on any of the Congleton RD subdistricts yet (Church Hulme, Congleton, Sandbach).

Births Mar 1867 (>99%)
Ratcliffe John Congleton 8a 260

Cheshire Birth indexes for the years: 1867
Surname Forename(s) Sub-District Registers At Mother's Maiden Name Reference
RATCLIFFE John Congleton Cheshire East CON/32/97

Hartshead Sub-District
Created 1 July 1837. Abolished 1 April 1897. In Ashton & Oldham Registration District (1837-50), Ashton-under-Lyne Registration District (1850-97).
Hartshead [Lancs], Hurst [Lancs].
Records now held at Tameside.
http://www.cheshirebmd.org.uk/subdists.php