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Archiver > ABERDEEN > 2004-11 > 1100044429


From: "Alyson Kelman" <>
Subject: Re: Re:[ABERDEEN] "m.s." in Death Cert
Date: Wed, 10 Nov 2004 10:53:49 +1100
References: <418F373E.1000908@which.net>


Hello, Gavin et al.

"ms" (also M/S and M.S.) stands for Maiden Surname.

It is unusual for there to appear to be two "ms"s in that record. If the
lady had
been married twice it would read something like "formerly ... ms ..." or
"widow of ... ms ..."

Gavin, you are of course right in saying that the use of "or" between two
surnames for an individual indicates illegitimacy in the example you give.

Sometimes, however, it is used in legal and formal documentation to identify
a woman by both her maiden and married surnames. Widows who remarried
became, for example, "Jane Shand or Lawrence or Sievewright " being maiden
surname or first married or second married surnames [example from a Will].

And I have even seen one instance in OPR of a mother who had been married
twice identified in the baptismal entry for a child by her second husband as
"Ann Duncan or Rae" being her own and her first husband's surnames
[Belhelvie OPR 30 Aug 1818].

Regards,

Alyson

----- Original Message -----
From: "Gavin Bell" <>
To: <>
Sent: Monday, November 08, 2004 8:07 PM
Subject: Re:[ABERDEEN] "m.s." in Death Cert


> Ruth wrote:
>
> > I recently received a death cert. for Aberdeen showing two ms names
> > for the mother of the deceased. ie ms GERRARD ms SMITH.
>
> > Can someone explain what this means? I am confused .
>
> I have not seen this on Certificates, but while indexing Poor law
> records, I came across numerous cases where a child was listed as "John
> Smith or Brown", using a style more familiar with the names of married
> women, but in this case used to indicate that John was illegitimate, and
> that, while the identity of his father was known, paternity had not been
> admitted.
>
> So it might be that the mother of your deceased was similarly of
> disputed paternity.
>
>
> Gavin Bell
>


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