Marriage Certificate

[neuron]

A relative of mine recently signed as a witness, a marriage certificate along with other records. He was father of the bride. The documentation he signed had been filled in prior to him signing his name on the document. On the documents, his occupation had been given incorrectly as "homemaker", whereas in reality he is a retired engineer.
What are the implications of this as far as the marriage is concerned bearing in mind the warning about giving false information at the bottom of the marriage certificate? Can a new certificate be issued with the correct details?The incident has created some bad feeling as the man concerned has a son who is the last in line with the same surname. This means that in centuries to come, anyone doing research on the equivalent of ancestry.com will find a relative with a rather more demeaning occupation than his true vocation, a concept that does not rest easy with him.

[dot.haukes]

noone in the wedding party signed the marriage certificate, they signed the marriage register, if the marriage was in an Anglican church it is the Vicar who filled in the certificate, the register can be altered by the church protocol being carried through to the bishop i believe. the vicar can amend the register only after then i think.
If it was a marriage in a register office, the superintendent registrar for marriages will have filled out the certificate and the register would have been signed by the parties. the superintendent registrar would be the person to ask in the first instance to alter the entry, it would probably be referred to the registrar generals office.

If it was a Catholic ceremony, the priest and a superintendent registrar would have made separate register entries and so ditto for each as above.

The first thing to do is to speak to the register office anyway. Bearing in mind that the couple really involved, i.e. the bride and groom are the people who informed the registrar/vicar/priest of the relevant family information, including occupations. The banns / wedding notice, would have been posted in the register office of both Parishes for up to 6 weeks before the ceremony when any errors in the information could have been amended.

[neuron]

Yes, you're right dot.hawkes, he did sign the marriage register not the certificate. However, "homeowner" was on the marriage certificate.
The marriage took place in a parish church in Wales within the St David's diocese. i don't know if it's anglican but services are held in English not Welsh.
I've now found out that the details on the documents were provided to and written by the former vicar of the church who has now retired. He was not the vicar who conducted the marriage ceremony.

[dot.haukes]

Possibly if you email the Bishop and explain he will be able to tell you if there can be an amendment to the certificate but the certificate has to be certified as a true copy of the register, but he may be able to authorise an adendum to the original entry




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[revpatn]

You are all right and wrong.

I am an Anglican vicar and have had a similar situation only today!

Once the authorised person (the vicar) has signed the documents he/she has made a legal contract that states all the information is correct at the time of the wedding � they no longer have jurisdiction to change these documents. To change the documents they need to get a legal amendment from the General Registrar�s Office in Southport who tell the vicar what to write. They then issue a statement that has to be copied by the vicar in the presence of the couple � they all have to sign it. If one of the couple cannot make it then they will be advised by the GRO to go to the Town Hall in the area and the registrar can be a witness (they have to tell the GRO that they cannot make it and nominate a 3rd party to sign on their behalf - the statement differs accordingly).

It all sounds really confusing but basically you need contact the GRO and the vicar. They will take the 2 registers and the certificate and amend all at the same time. All 3 documents have to say the same thing and the GRO have to issue a legal notice to allow the vicar to change it.

Hope this helps.

[revpatn]

No Bishop has the legal right to allow a change to occur once a marriage has been authorised (signed by the Clark in Holy Orders). I have spoken to our legal advisors today about changing documentation and it HAS to be done through a legal amendment granted by the GRO. If the mistake had been noticed prior to the registration of the marriage it�s really easy to change but once the documents have been signed they become unchangeable. The Banns are read for 3 weeks prior to the wedding but no mention of occupations etc are called so it�s a simple misunderstanding. The vicar who conducted the wedding does not have to be the one who makes the amendments, however there must be an authorised Clark to sign the documents. The GRO will ask for evidence about the change in occupation but we put �retired... � all the time so it shouldn�t be a problem. It all takes about a week to get sorted � my couple were married on Saturday and we have changed the documents today � the GRO are very good about getting back to the ministers with the amended wording. I would strongly recommend you contact the vicar of the parish and the GRO for more help.

Can�t find the number but address is
General Register Office,
Smedley Hydro,
Trafalgar Road,
Southport,
Merseyside
PR8 2HH