Unwed Mothers from Northern Ireland in 1913

[Shannon C. Conklin]

Hi I'm Researching my late grandfather.

I have his birth certificate, he says he was from Londonderry, but he was born in St. Mary's County of London in 1913. It only lists his mother as "Jane Kelly", no father listed.

Would "Jane Kelly" be an actual name or the equivalent of a "Jane Doe"? There is an address for the mother listed in Belfast.

My grandfather immigrated to the US after World War 2 and says his mother lived here but it's a totally different name.

[Ian Goddard]

A birth certificate records whatever the informant tells the registrar.
Presumably your great grandmother gave that name to the hospital when sh
arrived (I assume it was St Mary's Paddington which is a big hospital).
There would have been no way for them to check.

Giving a false first name might have been tricky as she'd have to
remember to answer to it although she might not have thought of that
aspect beforehand.