Genealogy Chat
Welcome to the Genes Reunited community boards!
- The Genes Reunited community is made up of millions of people with similar interests. Discover your family history and make life long friends along the way.
- You will find a close knit but welcoming group of keen genealogists all prepared to offer advice and help to new members.
- And it's not all serious business. The boards are often a place to relax and be entertained by all kinds of subjects.
- The Genes community will go out of their way to help you, so don’t be shy about asking for help.
Quick Search
Single word search
Icons
- New posts
- No new posts
- Thread closed
- Stickied, new posts
- Stickied, no new posts
Finding mother's maiden name
Profile | Posted by | Options | Post Date |
---|---|---|---|
|
AllanC | Report | 10 May 2009 13:07 |
This may be re-inventing the wheel, but I've had leads to unknown maiden names recently from census records or bmd indexes which give the (usually eldest) son's second Christian name. So if a name like John Bradshaw Smith crops up, there's a good chance his mother's maiden surname was Bradshaw. And if you've got a rough date for the marriage and you find Smith and Bradshaw with the same volume and page number in the bmd it's a pretty good chance (almost certain) you've got it. By the way, I made that name up, it's not one of my relatives. |
|||
|
lancashireAnn | Report | 10 May 2009 14:26 |
if that does not work try looking a generation back. I have 2 generations where one child had the forenames Martha West, though this was a strange one that I can't tie in. |
|||
Researching: |
|||
|
PME | Report | 10 May 2009 15:05 |
Personally I'd order the childs birth certificate to double check before I assumed an unusal middle name might be the mothers maiden name. |
|||
|
Penny | Report | 10 May 2009 15:33 |
Never go on an assumption |
|||
|
lancashireAnn | Report | 10 May 2009 15:33 |
I agree that the only sure way is to buy certificates (I have many) but sometimes it gives a clue that you may be eventually able to prove by eg baptism records especially before 1837 which is the stage most of my research is at. |
|||
Researching: |
|||
|
Porkie_Pie | Report | 10 May 2009 15:54 |
Never assume anything certs are the best way to confirm details. a middle name of a child could be a mothers maiden name or a fathers surname usually when born out of wedlock, and also a fathers name if the woman had an affair but the husband new the child was not his, also the same goes for a double barreled surname eg, John William Smith-Jones. |
|||
|
AllanC | Report | 10 May 2009 20:36 |
Yes, certificates. I didn't mention them because it should be taken as read that they are essential for 100% certainty. |
|||
|
lancashireAnn | Report | 11 May 2009 16:06 |
I agree with you all that certificates are essential where possible. |
|||
Researching: |
|||
|
jeannie | Report | 12 May 2009 13:03 |
do also consider that some names were given that have no family ties, |
|||
Researching: |
|||
|
MargaretM | Report | 12 May 2009 15:03 |
Be careful, I was lead astray by making that assumption at the beginning of my research. I assumed that my grandfather's middle name was his mother's maiden name. I was wrong, it turned out that it was his grandmother's maiden name. |
|||
Researching: |
|||
|
Madmeg | Report | 12 May 2009 22:50 |
But the middle name did solve a mystery for me. My gg grandfather had about 8 kids and the first 5 had the middle name of Bradshaw, but the next 3 did not. That led me to discover that his first wife had died and he remarried. |
|||
|
Libby22 | Report | 13 May 2009 00:43 |
My grandfather and all his siblings had the middle name Armitage, the reason being - their father's surname was Armitage, he was unable to marry their mother as he was still married to his wife, who left him with a child to raise. |