Any idea's about this brides two names.

[David Annis]

Doris May Busby, born 1923, Birmingham.

Father. George William Busby
Mother May Busby, maiden name, Sadler.
Married.1920. Birmingham

Doris marries George William Betts, September 1948. Stechford, Birmingham.

Doris is shown as a spinster but on the marriage certificate her name is shown as "Doris May Acker otherwise known as Busby".
Ans---ry shows Doris's marriage under both names.
As far as I can see, Doris has not been married before. Her mother does not appear to have re-married to someone called Acker. Doris's sister, Doreen Gertrude Busby, born two years later, has no connection with the name Acker.
My only conclusion so far, is that Doris was formerly or informally adopted, for for some reason, by a family with the name Acker and out of respect to both families, recorded both names on the certificate.

Your thoughts please
Cheers
Dave.

[Peter Goodey]

She could have been living with a man named Acker and had been calling herself Mrs Acker.

[Peter Goodey]

If it isn't obvious, I should have added that the order in which the names are shown is significant. Doris May Acker is listed first which implies that Acker is the name she was normally known by at the time of the marriage but that Busby was actually her "official" or "legal" name.

This is consistent with my suggestion above that she had been living with an Acker and using his name.

[maesglas/ssclub]

Hello Peter and David,

could it be that Acker was written in because she had another name, Aka, alias, and so forth, just an Idea.
Robert

[Peter Goodey]

"Otherwise" is the standard word on certificates for an alias. This is similar to the way in which "late" and "formerly" have clearly defined meanings.

A.K.A. (standing for "also known as") is a very recent import from the US. The OED seems to suggest that the earliest British usage was in the 1980s which sounds about right to me although I wouldn't argue if they had said 1970s.

[David Annis]

What an interesting idea Peter. Although I would have thought that if this lady had been living with a man and not being married to that man, she would have been inclined to keep quiet about it and not tell the whole world on her wedding day.
Still there's none such queer as folk, as they say.
She was 23 years old so would not have been all that worldly wise I would have thought.
I'm still inclined to think that possibly due to poverty, illness or some other reason, the child was brought up by another family by the name of Acker and by the time their second daughter was born the circumstances had changed.
An odd one none the less
Cheers
Dave.

[David Annis]

No the name Acker is written down clearly.
Cheers
Dave

[Peter Goodey]

I'm still inclined to think...

As you wish, Dave. All I can say is that what "A otherwise B" on a marriage certificate actually means is that the bride was generally known as A but her "legal" name was B. The usual reason is because she used to live with Mr A and was known as Mrs A.

That may or may not apply in this specific case but I don't think it's a case of picking whichever theory you fancy. There must be evidence available to help you get to the bottom of it. For example, did she attend school as an Acker or a Busby?

[David Annis]

Peter, this inquiry came from a work college and she has no idea or ever even heard of the name Acker before she saw the wedding certificate of her fathers father.
One thing I did miss spotting on this certificate was that the brides father was a piano tuner.
Now I wonder if George William Busby was blind, as many piano tuners often were.
He married May Sadler in 1920. If he was blind, was it from birth or a 1914/18 war wound?
They married well before Doris's birth so no upsets there.
I cannot spot a George William Busby in the war records as yet.
Cheers
Dave

[grisel]

Interestingly there is a Doris M Acker on FMP passenger list index, travelling from Southampton to Canada in 1946.