Q 04 - Posted November 2006 by S. Westwood.
My ancestors changed their name whem immigrating to England. How can I find a record of this and can you explain about "Deed polls" ?
A 04 - The first part of my response is taken taken from
"Ancestral Trails" by Mark D. Herber (ISBN 0-7509-1418-1).
Changes of name are not generally recorded by the civil registration system but the system did record some changes of Christian name. More importantly, although changes of name (particularly foreign names) occurred at all times, formal changes of name are most common in the last two hundred years and therefore most likely to cause you problems in searching the civil registration records.
Firstly, the Christian name of a child given on a birth certificate can be changed within twelve months of the birth being registered if the child has not been baptized with the registered name. This procedure is rarely used and should not cause you any difficulty in tracing an entry since the record of the birth should be indexed under both names.
At common law, a name is merely the label by which a person is generally known. I could start calling myself John Smith and it would be quite legal (unless it was for a fraudulent purpose). No legal formality or advertisement is now required to change your name. However, between 1939 and 1945 British subjects could only change their names if they published, twenty-one days beforehand, a notice of the proposed change in the London Gazette, or in the Scottish or Irish equivalents of that journal.
However, if I wanted some proof that I had changed my name from that appearing on my birth certificate, I could execute a document known as a deed poll, that is a deed formally evidencing an intent to use a new name. These deeds can be lodged at court so that there is a permanent record of the change. Since 1903 the enrolment of deeds has taken place after an application to the High Court of Justice. The deeds are kept in books and those books more than three years old are deposited at the PRO in class J 18. Before 1903 deed polls were enrolled in the Close Rolls, which are also held at the PRO. From 1914 it was necessary, in order to enroll the deed at court, to advertise the change of name in the London Gazette.
Names could also be changed by Royal Licence or by private act of Parliament, although these were rare procedures which you are unlikely to encounter in your research. Records of Royal Licences are held at the PRO and described in PRO Records Information leaflet 38. Private acts of Parliament are at the House of Lords Records Office. Phillimore & Fry (120) index the new and discarded names of people who used the licence or parliamentary procedures from 1760 to 1901 to change their name, as well as some who used deed polls. The source of information is also recorded, usually an advertisement of the change in the London Gazette or The Times newspaper.
Further details are given in the following notes taken from
"Tracing your Ancestors in the National Archives" by Amanda Bevan (ISBN 1-903365-89-9)
Change of name
It is perfectly legal for anyone simply to change his or her name without drawing any attention to the change, unless there is an intention to defraud. Many people who changed their name did not wish to draw attention to the fact. For example, in an age when it was almost impossible to divorce, some people simply took their new partner's name to give the appearance of marriage, and any children the appearance of legitimacy.
There were several ways to record the change of name, such as a statutory declaration before a justice of the Peace or Commissioner for Oaths (which could not be enrolled on the Close Rolls for safe keeping); or an advertisement in the newspapers may have been used instead. (It may be possible to check local newspapers at the British Library Newspaper Library, Collingdale Avenue, London. NW9 5HE Tel: 020-7412-7353 www.bl.uk/collections/newspapers.html )
An alternative was just to assume an alias - with intention to defraud. For an index to habitual criminals and their aliases, from 1869, see the National Archives PROCAT.
Change of name by deed poll, 1851 onwards
For most people a deed poll means a change of name. Actually, a deed poll is the technical term for a deed involving only one party (poll meaning the parchment was smooth-cut, whereas an indenture or indented deed between two or more parties was cut in a zigzag way so each could be matched up with the other parts).
Changes of name by deed poll were (and are) made before a solicitor who could enroll them on the Close Rolls, for safe keeping. Relatively few changes of name were enrolled, as it was not a legal obligation and extra fees were payable . Most people who come to the National Archives looking for an enrolled change of name are disappointed. The original deed poll will have been given to the person who changed their name. Although the solicitor who prepared the deed poll may have kept a copy on file, it is unlikely to be a certified copy, nor is the file likely to have been kept for more than five years.
The London Gazette
From 1914, all deeds poll enrolled in the Supreme Court had first to be; advertised in the London Gazette but again, this does not mean all changes; of name. However, for the duration of the Second World War, British subjects could only change their name if 21 days before doing so they had published in the London Gazette, the Edinburgh Gazette or the Belfast Gazette a notice giving details of the proposed change. These Gazettes are all being published on www.gazettes-online.co.uk/.
A supplementary index to both old and new names exists in the quarterly indexes to the London Gazette for 1938-1964: copies of the relevant pages are shelved by the J 18 indexes in the Map Room. The London Gazette itself may be seen in the National Archives under Z 11.
Changes of name by foreigners in the UK , 1916-1971
Enemy aliens resident in Britain had been forbidden to change their names in 1916: the ban was extended to all foreigners in Britain in 1919. The only exceptions made were when a new name was assumed by royal licence; or by special permission of the Home Secretary; or when a woman took her husband's name on marriage. In the first two of these cases, the change had to be advertised in the Gazettes (see above). These restrictions were removed in 1971, and anyone can now change their name.
Royal licences and private acts of Parliament: c 1700 onwards
Royal licences to change a name appear very infrequently among the records from the late seventeenth century. The change is usually in response to a bequest conditional upon adopting the deceased's name, or a marriage settlement requiring the husband to adopt the wife's name or when a change to the coat of arms was also required. Warrants for such changes of name were entered into the current series of entry books; before 1782 in SP 44; from 1782 to February 1868 in HO38; and from February 1868 in HO 142. These last two series usually have internal indexes in each volume. Records of such changes of name were often advertised in the London Gazette. It may be worth also checking the records of the College of Arms (Queen Victoria Street, London. EC4V 4BT: Tel: 020-7248-2762. www.college-of-arms.gov.uk )
Alpha numeric references refer to Series at The National Archives. e.g. 'J' indicates a series of records from the Supreme Court of Judicature.
