"alias" in place of maiden name?.....

[CathieL]

On an 1855 death cert.for John Sutherland, farmer, married, the widow's name is given as Ann Gow alias Sutherland. Their five children's names and ages are given. The informant is John's brother Peter. I was wondering why the word alias would be used instead of maiden name, anyone have any idea?
Cathie

[DavidWW]

On an 1855 death cert.for John Sutherland, farmer, married, the widow's name is given as Ann Gow alias Sutherland. Their five children's names and ages are given. The informant is John's brother Peter. I was wondering why the word alias would be used instead of maiden name, anyone have any idea?
Cathie

I'd need to look at the actual image to be sure, - how about adding it the Gallery here on TS?, - but the most likely situation is that she was first, or later, married to a Mr SUTHERLAND .......

David

[LesleyB]

Hi Cathie
In which area did this death occur ?
I've come across a few cases of "alias" being used, but my finds have been very much in certain areas of Scotland - just wondering if a pattern is emerging.

Best wishes
Lesley

[CathieL]

Hi Lesley
This was in South Ranaldsay Orkney and I can't find a marriage for the couple but I did find something puzzling about the childrens' births Is this where you alias is?

David
The image from SP was too faint to read and the copy they sent me is too big to scan. I tried to scan part of it and it might be in the Gallery! In the meantime I looked for the children and I found all of them in one document called Promiscuous Entries Hopefully that document made it to the Gallery.
Do you have any idea what that means and which religion would it be.

http://talkingscot.com/gallery/displayi ... ?pos=-1173

http://talkingscot.com/gallery/displayi ... ?pos=-1174

Cathie

Gallery URLs added - AndrewP

[AndrewP]

Hi Cathie,

I consulted my trusty Chambers Dictionary for this one. I think the meaning of promiscuous to be taken is not the usual one of children produced in circumstances of promiscuity. These couples are listed as married, so that is not the meaning to be taken.

The other meaning that looks more likely is collected together without order. These entries were probably made soon before civil registration came in, in 1855. It is quite common to see these family groups at the end of the OPRs for births/baptisms over the previous 20 or sometimes more years.

All the best,

AndrewP

[DavidWW]

Having now had a look at the image I'm near certain that this is just the use of the wife's maiden name as her "first" surname with the alias meant to refer to her married name. In Scots Law a woman never loses her birth surname.

Remember, in 1855, the whole system was very new, and it took some time to settle down, and standard usages develop.

In other words, in later years, it would have been written as Ann SUTHERLAND Maiden Surname GOW ..........


This view tends to be supported by the following from familysearch.org , -


Father: John Sutherland, Mother: Ann Gow

Marriage: 21 DEC 1843 South Ronaldsay, Orkney, Scotland

JOHN SUTHERLAND - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Male Birth: 09 MAY 1844 North Parish, South Ronaldsay, Orkney, Scotland (Hmmmm..... very typical short first pregnancy )

ELIZABETH SUTHERLAND - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Female Birth: 04 NOV 1845 South Ronaldsay, Orkney, Scotland

CHARLES SUTHERLAND - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Male Birth: 15 DEC 1847 South Ronaldsay, Orkney, Scotland

GORDON SUTHERLAND - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Male Birth: 05 SEP 1851 South Ronaldsay, Orkney, Scotland

PETER SUTHERLAND - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Male Birth: 05 DEC 1853 South Ronaldsay, Orkney, Scotland

Images for all of these events should be on ScotlandsPeople.

David

[Jack]

Hello all,
I've an 1856 BC from Paisley which also has alias.
-
BC 1856. 559-1. 261 (Abbey)
William WEBSTER (alias DONALD) b. 28 May 1856 at 6 Cotton St, Paisley.
Illegitimate - Mother Janet WEBSTER (alias DONALD) shawl fringer.
--
Janet's maiden surname was WEBSTER, and had married a James DONALD in 1843, but he died in 1847.
She later met up with a William SMITH, the result being wee William born in 1856.
--
Pleasing to know that William Smith didn't shirk his responsibilities - he paid for his son's upbringing.
Wee William as an adult used the name of William Smith Donald.
His descendants today have the surname of Donald.
Though i suppose the family name should really be Smith or Webster.
Jack

[DavidWW]

Hello all,
I've an 1856 BC from Paisley which also has alias.
-
BC 1856. 559-1. 261 (Abbey)
William WEBSTER (alias DONALD) b. 28 May 1856 at 6 Cotton St, Paisley.
Illegitimate - Mother Janet WEBSTER (alias DONALD) shawl fringer.
--
Janet's maiden surname was WEBSTER, and had married a James DONALD in 1843, but he died in 1847.
She later met up with a William SMITH, the result being wee William born in 1856.
--
Pleasing to know that William Smith didn't shirk his responsibilities - he paid for his son's upbringing.
Wee William as an adult used the name of William Smith Donald.
His descendants today have the surname of Donald.
Though i suppose the family name should really be Smith or Webster.
Jack

Again I'd be near certain that the usage here derives from the fact that this is only 1856, and probably the first time that the registrar had encountered this situation!

Remember, he couldn't just pick up the 'phone and consult the high heid yins in Edinburgh

And while his faither paid aliment, note that his surname doesn't appear on the birth register entry. It could have, had he also attended the act of registration and co-signed the entry, but that would have probably sent the registrar into orbit, as to how to handle the situation

David

[CathieL]

Thank you Andrew and David
Now I have it all sorted out, there's an awfie lot of Sutherlands in Orkney The person I am really interested in is John Sutherland's niece, Ann McIver Sutherland. I have her birth cert and she was born 1855 to Barbara, John's sister. She was illegitimate (it does not say that on the cert, just a blank space where the father should be) but she used the name McIver in the census and when she got married she gave her parents as John McIver (deceased) and Barbara McIver ms Sutherland. Would there be any mention of her birth in a church record or should I just leave it at that as I have all her details from her marriage on.

Cathie