Name changes

[John1955]

Hi does anyone on here know how to find out why or how a surname of someone at birth is different to their Father’s and their mother’s maiden isn’t that of the new born. Family Lowther from Hull mother was Mary Court but child John Small Lowther Small born 1845 but siblings born earlier Lowther ???? Very frustrating. Thought mother might have remarried as 4 year gap between first two children to John’s but no record anywhere on FMP, Ancestry, or BMD.

 

[John1955]

Thank you

 

[Ellie7]

John Small Lowther
Birth quarter 1
Birth year 1843
Mother's maiden name Court
District Sculcoates
County Yorkshire
Country England
Volume 22
Page 523
Record set England & Wales Births 1837-2006
Category Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish RecordsS
ubcategory Civil Births
Collections from Great Britain, England

 

[Ellie7]

 

[Ellie7]

1851@46, Wincolm Lee, St Pauls, Sculcoates, Yorkshire & Yorkshire (East Riding), England

James Lowther Head Married Male45 1806 Wharfinger & Sloop Proprietor Employing 4 En Hull, Yorkshire
Mary Lowther Wife Married Female46 1805-Hull, Yorkshire, England
Ann E Lowther Daughter-Female13 1838 Scholar Hull, Yorkshire, England
Philip C Lowther Son-Male10 1841 Schola rHull, Yorkshire, England
John S Lowther Son-Male7 1844 Scholar Hull, Yorkshire, England

 

[Ellie7]

Mary Court
Age 29
Birth year 1808
Marital status S
Residence Hull
Marriage year 1837
Marriage date 01 Jul 1837
Marriage place Hull, Holy Trinity
By licence or by banns L
Spouse's first name(s) James Lowther
Spouse's age 30
Spouse's birth year 1807S
pouse's residence Sculcoates
Spouse's occupation Cartman
Spouse's marital status B
Father's first name(s) Philip Court
Father's occupation Yeoman
Spouse's father's first name(s) James Lowther
Spouse's father occupation Cartman
Witness 1 Thomas Hewson
Witness 2 Jane Richardson
County Yorkshire (East Riding)
Country England
Archive East Riding Archives & Local Studies Service
Archive reference PE158/33
Page 1Record set Yorkshire Marriages
Category Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records

 

[Ellie7]

 

[John1955]

John Small Lowther
Birth quarter 1
Birth year 1843
Mother's maiden name Court
District Sculcoates
County Yorkshire
Country England
Volume 22
Page 523
Record set England & Wales Births 1837-2006
Category Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish RecordsS
ubcategory Civil Births
Collections from Great Britain, England

When my John Small gets married his name becomes John Small Lowther Small on the marriage records. Also on one birth record he is down as John Small Lowther Small. Strange. I have his father living 46 Wincolmlee Hull which then was Sculcoates RD and he is a wharfinger and ship owner.

 

[Ellie7]

Yes see #5

 

[John1955]

Thank you for all this.
I did inherit details from my late uncle who was his grandson on his Mothers side. I have found some errors he made but he was quite insistent on this one But what is strange I now cant find the copy of John's Marriage certificate with his name John Small Lowther Small - Sarah Elizabeth Roper but some details are on Latter Day Saints but someone has changed it and left parents off.

However he does appear on several Family Trees under this name so totally muddled now. Very frustrating

 

[Ellie7]

John Small Lowther
Age 31
Birth year 1843
Residence Westgate
Marriage year 1874
Marriage date 22 Dec 1874
Marriage place Guisborough
Spouse's Sarah Elizabeth Roper
Spouse's age 19
Spouse's residence Westgate
Father's first name(s) James Lowther
Spouse's father's first name(s) James Usher Roper
County Yorkshire (North Riding)
Country England
Archive Teesside Archives
Page 244
Record set Yorkshire Marriages
Category Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records
Subcategory Parish Marriages
Collections from England, Great Britain

 

[Ellie7]

 

[John1955]

Thank you for this.
See what I mean where did the Small surname appear from. Father James Lowther no Small. I have got a copy of this somewhere but cant put my finger on it. That many folders trying to trim them down slowly. After his death Sarah remarried - Archibald Elliott who lived off the money John made. Some of the children retained the surname Small then she had 3 children to Elliott. Apparently Elliott spent time in prison for fraud. Small started off as a joiner.
Small had 5 children to Sarah two included the witnesses surname Sarah Elizabeth Dawson Small and John Dawson Small.

But the puzzle is the surname change. Be very difficult to find out why. Grrrr! Will have to try to get to Guisborough sometime to look.

 

[John1955]

I’ve had an ancestry contact and reads very interesting.


Well Great Grandma Prosser’s family the Small’s. Read below so will research it. I’ve been in contact with another ancestry member and this is the reply.

Hi John - I researched JSL Small because my great great grandmother, Ann Dawson, was his housekeeper. On the 1871 census Ann is living in Westgate, Guisborough, Cleveland, working as “housekeeper” for a Mr J.S.L.Small - a young man of independent means!
John Small Lowther Small seems to have had a connection to the Dawson family via his benefactor John Small. Born John Small Lowther; as a young man he was an apprentice joiner, but at the age of 28, having acquired an extra “Small”, he was listed as an “Annuitant” (ie. in receipt of an annual income or pension) and ten years later as a “Retired Joiner”. His benefactor would seem to be his namesake, the late John Small, a Cabinet maker and Property owner (maybe John Small was a bachelor family friend who was quite well off and wanted to "adopt" a son? - the Lowther's do seem to have specifically named their son after him!) For many years, the unmarried, elder John Small, enjoyed the services of a housekeeper called Sarah Dawson; possibly the sister of Richard Dawson and aunt of Ann Dawson.. Perhaps Ann Dawson got the job of housekeeper to John S L Small at the instigation of her Aunt Sarah; a glance at the census reveals Sarah Dawson living close by. In 1874 I believe J.S.L. Small married a girl from Norton (Sarah Elizabeth Roper) and settled in the area. The Dawson family also lived in Norton. Upon his death in 1882 his executor was John Dawson; possibly Ann’s oldest brother.
After J.S.L.Small’s marriage he presumably had no need for a housekeeper and Ann would have found herself out of a job. Seemingly she must have fallen on hard times because after the birth of two apparently illegitimate children, William (1875) and Elisabeth (1880) the 1881 census sees them all as inmates in the Auckland Union Workhouse. Interestingly, Ann is listed as being married and the family name is Dodds - I think she invented an absent husband because no records of a marriage exist.
A lot of this is supposition but hope it helps.

 

[John1955]

Further to the above I have found a Probate document details:
Probate 8/2/1867 John Small 8/2/1867. Will with two codicils. Gentleman deceased 7/1/1867 Guisborough age 75 (Born late 1791). By oath of Sarah Dawson, William Harrison farmer of Underpark and John S Lowther Cabinet Maker of Wincolmlee, Hull the executors. Between £10,000 and £12,000. No further details as to how shared.
So that means John Small Lowther Small became Small after John Small's death. Very strange.