I'm in a bit of a quandary of what records of parents' names to 'believe'
-
For instance, the marriage cert of my g-grandparents gives the bride's father
as James. The original parish records entry of her birth, however, gives his
name as John. In another example, the parish records of a marriage give the
groom's father as David, whereas a few years later the groom's death cert
says his father, John, was present at the death. Should I go for the
parent's name stated on the official certificate, or the parish records? The
only reason I can think of for this discrepancy in names is that one is the
proper name of the parent and the other is the name he or she preferred to be
known by - but surely in an official record the proper name, not a nickname,
would be recorded - I'd appreciate any comments on this, and any advice on
which name to 'go for'.
Thanks
Valerie