1939 register alterations (completed)

[Tempest]

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I'm following up a relation who's wife died in 1927 , his name is William Eatherington, he's here in the 1939 register with a housekeeper Ada Watts, she is married and her husband dies in1944 when she then marries William. I'm wondering why the 1939 register appears to have been altered to give surname as Eatherington. Also her daughter Marjorie has had her name changed to Staley? Who would have made these changes and on what grounds? Any ideas anyone when it would have been done. William and Ada do eventually get married in 1948...long after the 1939 Register!!

[BC Wench]

From The National Archives web site:-

7. Why do some entries show the married names of women who did not marry until long after 1939?
The Register was continually updated while National Registration was in force, when it was a legal requirement to notify the registration authorities of any change of name or address. This ended in 1952, but since 1948 the Register had also been used by the National Health Service, who continued updating the records until 1991, when paper-based record keeping was discontinued.

Changes of name for any reason were recorded; in practice this was mostly when women changed their surnames on marriage or re-marriage, but also includes changes of name for any other reason, such as by deed poll.

The majority of these name changes appear in the indexes so you can search for a person using either their name in 1939 or any subsequent name.

[Tempest]

BC Wench, so many thanks for your answer. Very useful information, and now I know even more useful for future searching