Genealogy Chat

I have been pondering what it will be like for our descendants to carry out genealogical research on us... Over the last 30 years the trend has been for couples not to marry so soon, or even not at all, yet to have children. Then there are the divorces, remarriages (or not!) and all the complicated relationships that ensue. I think we have all found it difficult at times to trace our troublesome relatives ... Think how hard it could be for future generations! However, we are now so regulated that perhaps other records will become increasingly important.

I'd be interested to see the census return for some people I know......... Household comprises.........(names changed for obvious reasons) Mike Jones (Head) Jane Jones(Wife) Anne Price (Wife's daughter from first marriage) Paul Price (Wife's first husband - Anne's father) I'd love to see how the 'relationships' are enumerated! Reg

I quite agree with you, Elizabeth. I thought of that when trying to trace one of my mum's cousins forward who was born in the mid 1960s. As you say, she could be living with someone but not married and if she is (assuming she has had children who have taken his name), how am I ever going to find out the name of her potential children. My parents and I have discussed this with relation to the fact that our household doesn't live anywhere very near where any of us were born. My sister and I were both adopted, so we will appear on the 1991 census when it comes out but no one will find a birth record in those names that are given. Conversely, if someone was searching for my sister and I under our birth names, they don't stand a chance. And of course there are divorces etc to be taken into consideration. When I look through the 1841-1901 census records, if I find a husband with a different wife to the previous census, I would look through the deaths index to try to find her. With co-habiting being accepted in the modern day world, this could cause a real headache. It is quite possible, as you said, for a man and woman to be living together unmarried, with a couple of kids together and another from his or her previous relationship that was also a co-habiting arrangement without marriage? They'll be looking for marriages that didn't happen. What about teenage pregnancies? Coming upon 3xgreat grandparents in 1871, I found them with a 12 year old, a 7 year old and their grandchild aged 7m (illegitimate son of their 18 yr old girl who was away). In the modern day, we might be thinking the 12 year old could be mother to the infant. Who knows?

I have lived with my partner for over thirty years and we have a daughter. We never married, not for any reason, just never seemed the right time, lol. I have been researching our trees for over a year now, and for some reason marriage has become important to us, don't ask why, we don't know, it just seems important to leave a clear trace of us both.......very strange what this hobby has done!!!

Our family will be a nightmare too. Not only did my parents divorce, but both have other children out of wedlock. My mum did eventually marry my step-dad (as soon as his divorce came through from his second wife - no, not the first!), but that was when my brother was 7. As far as I know my father never did marry the mother of his two youngest children, plus he had a daughter when he was 19 who took her mother's name. Now, this is all reasonably common BUT .... after my parents' divorce both my elder brother and sister decided to change their surnames so they weren't the same as my father. My sister changed hers to our step-father's name but my brother didn't feel comfortable with that and changed his name to my mother's maiden name. My sister has since married, so has changed her name again! I was the only one that kept my original surname (until I wed) and purely by chance I ended up getting married in the same registration district as I was born in (despite moving all over the country and even living in Australia for a while), so it will look like I never went anywhere during my life and am possibly no relation to my actual siblings! Confused? They certainly will be - unless I keep this up to date and make sure I add in all the new nephews and nieces!

Your in luck if you are Scottish and kilt wearer, your desendants will be able to trace you thru your Sporran License thanks to the EU and our nanny state. K