I'll try to keep this simple. Two sisters ended up marrying two brothers. As a result the two marriages have a common set of parents.
Therefore, I have two marriage certificates in front of me. Up until now I was only paying attention to the 1942 certificate because it was for my wife's Grandparents. On that certificate it says this under the Groom's father entry:
Alexander Harris
However, I have now looked in more detail at the other marriage certificate from 1938. That one says:
Alexander Campbell Harris (Deceased)
It has the added details of the Groom's father being deceased. Which would mean he was deceased in 1942.
The fact would be correct because of the recent death certificate we found for Alexander which was in 1935.
So, why did the 1942 certificate not state the Groom's father was deceased? I assume it was not mandatory to make these clarifications?