Posted: 7:01 PM - Aug 23, 2000
Here is an interesting article from the Rootsweb Newsletter "Missing Links" that I just received today.
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SUCCESSFUL LINKS: CHANGING OF THE CLAN
by Glen Gibb glendinning@post.com
My search began from a point where I could reliably account for
18 family members, half of whom were recently deceased. These
roots were all firmly established in Scotland and the Glasgow
and West of the country. As the trail was followed back, it
became evident that my great-grandfather had gradually, over
his lifetime, changed his name. Christened Peter Gibb
GLENDINNING, he died and was recorded as Peter Glendinning GIBB
"known as . . ." The effect of his action was peculiar -- of the
two sons and two daughters he sired, all were given the name
GLENDINNING on their birth certificates, but all from birth were
referred to as GIBB. They in turn, I discovered from all points
of the globe, recorded their offspring as GIBB. Some, as myself,
carried GLENDINNING as a second name. Only by a fortuitous link
was the founding family discovered in the 1851 census. The
forward tracing then burgeoning to blood line relatives that I
followed only as far as their next generations -- my 18
relatives list -- has now exceeded 120. One, a woman from
Montreal, Canada, age 92, was ecstatic when I sent her an
extract of her father's birth lines. Her wondering about his
GLENDINNING name and a long held understanding that GIBB was not
really the family name was at last resolved.
I published a comprehensive family tree -- complete with as much
detail from the "true" family name as possible. And here, I came
upon a fact that might distress all those on similar quests.
My irritation at my great-grandfather making the change (and I
am all but complete in defining how and the why of it) was so
great that I made inquiries to establish what laws may have been
broken. Scottish law is different in many aspects from English
law, "English" often being erroneously used as a term for
"British." As the old man had not "legally" changed his name by
Deed Poll, I was confident that in -- eventually, his own son had
(inexplicably) recorded his son as GIBB and signifying himself
the father also as such. Was this a falsification and illegal?
Could it be reversed? Were all the worldwide GIBB names required
to be changed to their correct lineage, at least in Scottish
law? The answer is no.
Under Scottish law, there is no obligation for the offspring of a
legal marriage to be named after the father. Astonishingly, the
child can be named -- well, anything -- bound only it appears,
by the rules of names liable to confuse (as with royalty) or
fraudulent intent. (This, I did not wander into.) An examination
on some Web sites of Scottish births support this. They are
rare, but clearly the practice was undertaken. The only link to
the father in checking the family lineage is via the birth
certificate. In most cases, that detail will only become evident
by spending money to see an extract (or by visiting the
Edinburgh Record Office).
We were fortunate -- and the assumed signpost, showing us to be
GIBB, a sept of the BUCHANAN clan with all its historical
anchors -- were false. It really only matters as much as the
person wishes it to. For our lot -- some are now looking at
their tartan artifacts -- proudly displayed, and know that they
have absolutely no entitlement to that history. They took
comfort by reviewing the true pedigree of their ancestors. As a
sept of the clan DOUGLAS, the attributes in Scotland's support
of the King Robert the Bruce, is a magnificent one. It well
compensates the disillusionment of having had taken away a
lifetime of what we thought our heritage was, all because one
man had an argument with his father's family in the mid-1800s.
So, the bottom line is a sobering one. Just because you have
traced your family name back to the early Victorians and beyond,
it is no guarantee that it is your name.
----------------------------------------------
SUCCESSFUL LINKS: CHANGING OF THE CLAN
by Glen Gibb glendinning@post.com
My search began from a point where I could reliably account for
18 family members, half of whom were recently deceased. These
roots were all firmly established in Scotland and the Glasgow
and West of the country. As the trail was followed back, it
became evident that my great-grandfather had gradually, over
his lifetime, changed his name. Christened Peter Gibb
GLENDINNING, he died and was recorded as Peter Glendinning GIBB
"known as . . ." The effect of his action was peculiar -- of the
two sons and two daughters he sired, all were given the name
GLENDINNING on their birth certificates, but all from birth were
referred to as GIBB. They in turn, I discovered from all points
of the globe, recorded their offspring as GIBB. Some, as myself,
carried GLENDINNING as a second name. Only by a fortuitous link
was the founding family discovered in the 1851 census. The
forward tracing then burgeoning to blood line relatives that I
followed only as far as their next generations -- my 18
relatives list -- has now exceeded 120. One, a woman from
Montreal, Canada, age 92, was ecstatic when I sent her an
extract of her father's birth lines. Her wondering about his
GLENDINNING name and a long held understanding that GIBB was not
really the family name was at last resolved.
I published a comprehensive family tree -- complete with as much
detail from the "true" family name as possible. And here, I came
upon a fact that might distress all those on similar quests.
My irritation at my great-grandfather making the change (and I
am all but complete in defining how and the why of it) was so
great that I made inquiries to establish what laws may have been
broken. Scottish law is different in many aspects from English
law, "English" often being erroneously used as a term for
"British." As the old man had not "legally" changed his name by
Deed Poll, I was confident that in -- eventually, his own son had
(inexplicably) recorded his son as GIBB and signifying himself
the father also as such. Was this a falsification and illegal?
Could it be reversed? Were all the worldwide GIBB names required
to be changed to their correct lineage, at least in Scottish
law? The answer is no.
Under Scottish law, there is no obligation for the offspring of a
legal marriage to be named after the father. Astonishingly, the
child can be named -- well, anything -- bound only it appears,
by the rules of names liable to confuse (as with royalty) or
fraudulent intent. (This, I did not wander into.) An examination
on some Web sites of Scottish births support this. They are
rare, but clearly the practice was undertaken. The only link to
the father in checking the family lineage is via the birth
certificate. In most cases, that detail will only become evident
by spending money to see an extract (or by visiting the
Edinburgh Record Office).
We were fortunate -- and the assumed signpost, showing us to be
GIBB, a sept of the BUCHANAN clan with all its historical
anchors -- were false. It really only matters as much as the
person wishes it to. For our lot -- some are now looking at
their tartan artifacts -- proudly displayed, and know that they
have absolutely no entitlement to that history. They took
comfort by reviewing the true pedigree of their ancestors. As a
sept of the clan DOUGLAS, the attributes in Scotland's support
of the King Robert the Bruce, is a magnificent one. It well
compensates the disillusionment of having had taken away a
lifetime of what we thought our heritage was, all because one
man had an argument with his father's family in the mid-1800s.
So, the bottom line is a sobering one. Just because you have
traced your family name back to the early Victorians and beyond,
it is no guarantee that it is your name.