From: richard@ex-parrot.com   
      
   On 16/11/2019 14:49, J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:   
      
   > The case I'm thinking of, the child was born before the first marriage I   
   > know of, and the father is given as George x, where x is the same as the   
   > (born) surname of the mother. (A _relatively_ uncommon surname.) I   
   > cannot find a George among her near family. I therefore suspect that   
   > George x, as such, might be invented. Whether the father was _actually_   
   > called George (with a different surname), I'll (probably) never know.   
      
   There's a third option, besides being an invention by the mother and a   
   clerical error by the registrar.  Imagine the situation.  Mother goes to   
   register the child's birth.  "Hello, I'm Jane Smith. I'm here to   
   register the birth of my son, John."   
      
   "What's the father's name and occupation", the registrar asks.   
      
   "George.  He's a carpenter", the mother replies.   
      
   The registrar just assumes the mother and father are married, and the   
   mother doesn't think to volunteer that they're not, not necessarily out   
   of any intent to deceive.  The registrar proceeds to write "George   
   Smith, carpenter" in the certificate, and the mother doesn't notice at   
   the time.   
      
   Richard   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)