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Tag: internationalwomensday

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Cherchez Les Femmes! How to Find Someone’s Maiden Name

Happy International Women’s Day! Let’s celebrate by looking at the amazing women in our family trees.

Louise Seal Flo Powell maiden name
My grandmother Louise Taylor (nee Seal) and great aunt Flo Seal (nee Powell) in about 1931

Last time I blogged about researching your female ancestors, I covered some reasons why it was so important not to neglect that half of your family tree. Today, I’d like to give some pointers on how to overcome the challenge associated with this – how to find someone’s maiden name!

There are many strategies and sources you can use to find the elusive birth name of a female ancestor. Your mileage may vary for any one of these, depending on the location and era you are researching and the contents included in the suggested documents for those areas. There are plenty of suggestions here though, so you should find you get lucky using several of them.

Find Her Maiden Name In Marriage Records

This is the most obvious starting point. But watch out for her marital status on the document. If she’s a widow or divorcee, she will likely not be marrying under her maiden name. Check for her father’s name, and if it is not listed, the witnesses’ names may provide clues. Try to find her previous marriage record – search for her forename and her widowed surname, then look for death records of the husband and verify you have the right couple. That earlier marriage should have her maiden name.

Rose Davies maiden name
My great grandmother Rose Seal (nee Davies) looking a bit concerned in my grandparents’ wedding photo in 1932. She had no need to worry, they were happily married till my grandmother passed away!

Don’t just look for marriage certificates and church records though.

Also look for:

  • banns
  • allegations and bonds
  • licences
  • agreements
  • newspaper notices of engagements and marriages
  • family bibles
  • her husband’s military records, such as records of service and pension records
  • divorce applications or papers

These may not only confirm her maiden name, but provide further family information too.

Find Her Maiden Name In Her Children’s Records

Many of the records of your female ancestor’s children will give her maiden name. The records from earlier in their lives will be the most accurate as the information would likely have come from either her or her husband. If you don’t find what you are looking for in the records of the child you descend from, try their siblings.

  • birth certificates
  • baptismal records for some religions, e.g., Catholics and some non-conformists give mother’s maiden name
  • marriage certificates – some record mother’s maiden name, otherwise again check witness names for clues
  • death certificates also in some places give the mother’s maiden name
  • do any of her children have an unusual middle name (especially if several do)? – this may well be her birth name.
find someone's maiden name
An example of an Independent Chapel baptism register including mother’s parentage.

Find Her Maiden Name Using Census Records

Check all available censuses for your female ancestor. In later censuses, you may find her with an aged parent in the household. Remember if just the mother is there, check that she wasn’t widowed for a second or subsequent time before assuming her surname is the birth name of the daughter!

You may also find unmarried siblings boarding with the family.

Lastly, check the surrounding households for possible relatives, as often the families stayed in the same neighbourhoods. Remember the FAN principle!

Ruby Rigby maiden name
My grandmother Ruby Simpson (nee Rigby) looking serene about 1935.

Can Her Maiden Name Be Found in Death Records?

In some places, the maiden names of women are included in their death certificates, and as an extra bonus, as mentioned above some will also include her parents’ names. So you also get HER mother’s maiden name!

leah swinbourne maiden name
My recently widowed great grandmother Leah Barnett (nee Swinbourne, later Rigby) about 1912

Check wills:

  • did she leave one? Probably not before the Married Women’s Property Act (different dates in different jurisdictions!) as she would have had little of her own to leave anyone. Check anyway, you may be lucky!
  • did her husband leave one? Check his will and probate records as they may mention members of her family. For example who oversaw her inheritance from him when she legally couldn’t? If she had already died, who became guardians of any minor children?
  • if her husband died, she may be featured in removal and settlement records as the parishes juggled who would be responsible for the fatherless family. These can be extremely detailed.
  • do you have an inkling of who her birth family may possibly be? Check the will of her suspected father – they usually list daughters by married surname and often name their husbands.

Are there any obituaries or death announcements for her in the newspapers?

Lastly, don’t overlook records relating to her burial. Even the headstone may include some information, check for her maiden name on the stone itself, clues in the epitaph, and the birth date may assist you in finding her birth. Don’t neglect to check surrounding graves. She may be amongst her family.

Good luck in finding your female ancestors’ origins and helping your tree to become as rich and full as it deserves to be!

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Don’t just chase your surname – why female lines are just as important!

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”!

Ginger Rogers and Fred Asrire
byu/Lguy69 inBetterEveryLoop

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!