Mother's maiden name, "late" and "formerly"

[snowch]

I have a birth certificate that has the following text for Name and Maiden Surname of mother:

Eliza Smith
late
26 Bentley
formerly
Parker

The image is here: https://www.familysearch.org/photos/artifacts/180589904

What does this mean? Was the maiden name Parker, then she married Bentley, then married a Smith?

[AntonyMMM]

What does this mean? Was the maiden name Parker, then she married Bentley, then married a Smith?

Yes - although technically it means she used the name Bentley before marrying Mr Smith, not necessarily through marriage, but it almost certainly was.

The convention is for the maiden name to be always preceded by "formerly", although one or two registrars sometimes deviated from that.

[snowch]

Perfect - thank you.

[emeltee]

If you look for the birth on the GRO Index it gives the mother's maiden name as Parker