Conflicting Information

[cgraham]

Hello
I have been searching my husbands family, as it is a break from looking at German records .
On the marriage record (from Scotland's People) for John Duff Strachan and Agnes Gardner on February 10 1888, it lists the maiden surname for John Strachans mother as Mccallum. On his death record, also from Scotland's People, the mothers maiden name is Duff. Information was given by the son. My thought is that John would know his mother's maiden and possibly the son made a mistake. I have recently confirmed John Duff Strachan was born in Ceres, Fife through a census. The middle name Duff is not used in the birth registration, but is used in all other documentation for him. Is it possible that an error was made by the person writing down the marriage registration? I can not find a birth registration for a John Strachan with the mother's maiden name Mccallum or a marriage record. My other thought is that his mother died and the father remarried. Any thoughts?
Thanks Carmen

[ChipChip]

As you indicate the person you are talking about was registered at birth in Ceres, Fife as plain John Strachan. His mother's maiden name was Duff and it looks like he and/or his family chose to use Duff as a middle name later on. This is not unusual because some people go through their life using a name that they were not born with.
In regard to conflicting info on records this is also not unusual. All such records rely on the knowledge and capability of the Informant i.e. the person providing the info on the record. Normally this is a family member but even they can get the facts wrong. You would think that a man providing details of his mother for his marriage record was more likely to be correct than his son providing the same details many years later. Nevertheless all info needs to be checked to ensure its validity. The original birth record for John on ScotlandsPeople should provide the answer to the mother's surname.
I would imagine that similar things do occur with German records that you mentioned.

[cgraham]

Thank you for replying. I needed another opinion that I was on the right track.