Oooo… What fibbers
Documents that can lie.
We all should take the information on the census with a pinch of salt. But what about Birth, Marriage and Death Certificates? You probably had to pay for them! They must be correct surely. Well in this case it seems that some people might have been telling fibs. For example my maternal grandparent’s Scottish marriage certificate has a few.
The first thing to point out is not a fib. This is a Scottish certificate so it includes not only the Groom and Brides fathers, but their mothers as well and the marriage did not take place in a church but in this case in the minister’s home. It equally could have been at brides home.
Working left to right we come to the first fib. The bride’s name is incorrect. An old fib that the bride might not have known about, but certainly made it difficult to find her birth.
Next the Grooms age is wrong. Nothing too special here. Charles probably lied about his age when he joined the navy. He said he was 16 but was actually 14. Once started the lie had to continue.
Charles’s dad was probably Charles William Thornton - yet to be proved. Sergeant in Army it says, but also yet to be proved. However in 1919 he certainly was not deceased. He died in 1941 in an old folk’s home in Liverpool!
No idea what Charles’s mother was called but it is unlikely Elizabeth Thornton M.S. Beattie as this is what his grandmother was called. Mother has not been found so far.
Lastly, neither Duncan Ferguson, Shipwright (Journeyman) nor Catherine Ferguson M.S. Craig are the parents of Jeanie Margaret Ferguson.
Six fibs on one certificate. Who told the fibs is uncertain but someone did.
Two hidden fibs are that on his naval record it says that Charles was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada but the census says he was born in Birmingham, Warwickshire! The second is one of the witnesses, Jessie Ferguson. Jeanie Margaret Ferguson probably thought Jessie was a niece but she actually was her sister.
Working left to right we come to the first fib. The bride’s name is incorrect. An old fib that the bride might not have known about, but certainly made it difficult to find her birth.
Next the Grooms age is wrong. Nothing too special here. Charles probably lied about his age when he joined the navy. He said he was 16 but was actually 14. Once started the lie had to continue.
Charles’s dad was probably Charles William Thornton - yet to be proved. Sergeant in Army it says, but also yet to be proved. However in 1919 he certainly was not deceased. He died in 1941 in an old folk’s home in Liverpool!
No idea what Charles’s mother was called but it is unlikely Elizabeth Thornton M.S. Beattie as this is what his grandmother was called. Mother has not been found so far.
Lastly, neither Duncan Ferguson, Shipwright (Journeyman) nor Catherine Ferguson M.S. Craig are the parents of Jeanie Margaret Ferguson.
Six fibs on one certificate. Who told the fibs is uncertain but someone did.
Two hidden fibs are that on his naval record it says that Charles was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada but the census says he was born in Birmingham, Warwickshire! The second is one of the witnesses, Jessie Ferguson. Jeanie Margaret Ferguson probably thought Jessie was a niece but she actually was her sister.
