I have been researching my family tree and continually hitting brick walls. I think I may have discovered why this is, it seems one of my ancestors changed his surname entirely.
I found his birth record, then his marriage record (my female ancestor had a pretty unique name, luckily, so she is the reason I have been able to trace the family through time!) but by the birth of their first child just over a year later the whole family have changed their surname. They have then used this surname ever since (in the census etc) but their death record states the original surname again. I have searched newspaper archives, crime records, prison records etc to see if I can find a reason why they may have changed their names so suddenly- but no luck. It was my grandad's grandad who first changed his name and my grandad has a memory of being told (when some relatives were coming) that they might say his surname was X but that it wasn't true and to remember his surname is Y, which is really mystifying! This makes it sound more like a family secret or covering something up. He can't remember asking more about this! His dad died when he was very young, so he has limited memories of him.
I wondered if anyone has had similar experiences in their own family tree or any suggestions about why this might be or tips for how I might find out!