benny1982
09-05-2008, 07:40 PM
Hi
Drawing from my own experiences of genealogy, I thought that I'd share a few tips and such on genealogy. These focus on surnames as middle names, hadwriting, and marriage after birth of a firstborn child.
Quite often you will come across surnames used as middle names in ancestors eg John Hamilton Jones. This is very likely to be the mothers maiden name, and if not, one of the grandmothers maiden names. Occasionally it was maybe the married name of an aunt or cousin but was usually the maiden name of the childs mother or grandmothers. Also, if only one child had a surname sounding middle name that wasnt the mothers maiden name, the note down the date of birth, as that could well be near to the anniversary of one of the grandmothers deaths. My gggaunty was born 2 days prior to the 9th anniversary of her nans death and was given her maiden name as a middle name by the father as a tribute.
Another tip is handwriting. A lot of people couldnt read or write but a lot could, and most signatures were unique, as they were seen as a sign of personality, and sometimes were different to the persons actual handwriting. Signatures on marriage records, wills, poor law records, forces records and estate records can be vital in confirming the right ancestor, ie, if the signature of the will of someone who you thinks is your ancestor matches with the signature of your ancestors marriage cert, then it has to be the same person.
Another tip is marriage after the birth of an illegitimate baby. If the mother married within a year of the birth of her illegitimate baby, then in most cases the husband was probably the father, but not always. But, to try and prove it, use bastardy records, and if after 1834, look for the childs baptism. If the child was baptised after the marriage as the natural daughter of the mothers husband, then it is almost certain he was the father. If the child was then classed as the mans child on censuses and marriage records, and wills then you can be very certain the man who the mum wed was the dad, but I think it all hinges on the baptism, and if the new husband baptised the babe as his, then he had to be the father. I dont think many men were willing to take in someone elses lovechild as theirs. It took a lot of guts to even admit to fathering an illegitimate child, let alone for someone else to admit fatherhood if he wasnt the father.
Ben
Drawing from my own experiences of genealogy, I thought that I'd share a few tips and such on genealogy. These focus on surnames as middle names, hadwriting, and marriage after birth of a firstborn child.
Quite often you will come across surnames used as middle names in ancestors eg John Hamilton Jones. This is very likely to be the mothers maiden name, and if not, one of the grandmothers maiden names. Occasionally it was maybe the married name of an aunt or cousin but was usually the maiden name of the childs mother or grandmothers. Also, if only one child had a surname sounding middle name that wasnt the mothers maiden name, the note down the date of birth, as that could well be near to the anniversary of one of the grandmothers deaths. My gggaunty was born 2 days prior to the 9th anniversary of her nans death and was given her maiden name as a middle name by the father as a tribute.
Another tip is handwriting. A lot of people couldnt read or write but a lot could, and most signatures were unique, as they were seen as a sign of personality, and sometimes were different to the persons actual handwriting. Signatures on marriage records, wills, poor law records, forces records and estate records can be vital in confirming the right ancestor, ie, if the signature of the will of someone who you thinks is your ancestor matches with the signature of your ancestors marriage cert, then it has to be the same person.
Another tip is marriage after the birth of an illegitimate baby. If the mother married within a year of the birth of her illegitimate baby, then in most cases the husband was probably the father, but not always. But, to try and prove it, use bastardy records, and if after 1834, look for the childs baptism. If the child was baptised after the marriage as the natural daughter of the mothers husband, then it is almost certain he was the father. If the child was then classed as the mans child on censuses and marriage records, and wills then you can be very certain the man who the mum wed was the dad, but I think it all hinges on the baptism, and if the new husband baptised the babe as his, then he had to be the father. I dont think many men were willing to take in someone elses lovechild as theirs. It took a lot of guts to even admit to fathering an illegitimate child, let alone for someone else to admit fatherhood if he wasnt the father.
Ben