Happy International Women’s Day! Today is a great day to look at female ancestors and why they should not be overlooked in your research.
Why do people ‘forget’ their female ancestors?
Many people starting their family history will focus on their father’s line of the family. Why? It’s their birth name, it’s ‘who they are’. If they were born as a Yates, they’ll want to research their Yates family. It’s only natural to feel that connection to a name you’re already familiar with.
Let’s stop and think about it though. You are only half your birth name and half your mother’s maiden name. Go back another generation. You’re only a quarter of your birth name. By the time you go back 10 generations, your birth name represents only one of 1024 family lines you are descended from. When you focus on just your direct paternal surname ancestry, think of all the fascinating stories you miss out on!
Don’t risk losing the stories that make your family history sing!
Half of these stories are through women. Men’s achievements make up so much of the documented history we are made aware of, but women’s lives were often just as interesting and certainly at least as challenging. It’s only in very recent history that the concept of a ‘housewife’ existed for the vast majority of the population. Throughout most of history, women worked long hours to supplement the family income. They also shouldered the majority of the childrearing duties, often with very large families. It’s like the saying “Fred Astaire was a great dancer, but Ginger Rogers did it all backwards and in high heels”!
My own favourite ancestor was my mother’s maternal grandmother, Leah Swinbourne. She survived two and a half marriages (she ran off with the postman at 18 and that one was immediately annulled!), banishment from her family, twice being widowed, multiple children – both her own and several stepchildren to raise, and all before the advent of any form of government assistance. A very resilient, and by all accounts amazing lady.
So don’t discount the female lines of your family. If you do, you can miss some gold. Of course, there are challenges with the female lines – you won’t get anywhere till you know their maiden names for a start! How to get around these challenges will be the subject of a future blog. I know you all love a puzzle…otherwise you wouldn’t be interested in genealogy!
Do you know the stories of any amazing women in your family history? Please share below!
Hi,
My wife does the genealogy for our family. In our case, there is almost nothing on my (paternal) side. Everything is on hers, and she has gone gone a very long way.
I only write this to support your point, and hopefully add evidence for people to get out there and find a whole other section of their family.
It is a lovely article.
Frank
Thanks so much Frank, I appreciate the comment and the support! I hope your wife is able to also get a breakthrough on your paternal side too at some point. I’m very glad that investigating the maternal side has proved so fruitful.