Hi,
I am new here and English is not my native language. I have a transcript of a parish register from Giggleswick in York. There I find the following: "Dec 13 Ellena Sommerskales ancilla". A search on Wikipedia leads me to believe that Ancilla means that Ellena was unmarried when she died. Is that correct?
A related question, would a married women use their husbands surname after marriage at that time? I have information that Ellena Foster married Richard Somerscale and died 1575.
A possible son ended up in Norway and has a large number of descendants there. Being one of them I would be grateful for help to sort out if this Ellena was Rickards wife or not.
Best regards
Niels Hegge
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Thread: Ancilla in burial register 1575
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17-02-2012, 11:26 AM #1
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Ancilla in burial register 1575
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17-02-2012, 12:34 PM #2
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Hi Niels, and welcome
Ancilla simply means maidservant, but I think she's unlikely to have been married. At this date a married woman is more likely be described as 'wife of ... ', if she's described at all. Can you compare with any other female burials in the same register?
Yes, in England at this date a married woman would normally be recorded in a burial register under her husband's surname.
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17-02-2012, 1:12 PM #3
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Thank you both for the answers. I am nearly certain now that this is not the "right" Ellena. Richard was reasonably well off according to the information I have. But nearly half of the females not described as infans are described as ancilla.
Other females are described as follows:
May 7 Isabella Lawson ux de Lodge
Apr 10 Margareta Bicrofte infans (child I presume)
Jan 22 Margareta Leeminge vid
Jan 26 Elizabetha Alanson alias Tybunar
It is quite interesting to learn about how these things are recorded in another country. I will probably stumble on other things later on.
Best regards
Niels
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17-02-2012, 2:28 PM #4
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vid = vidua = widow
alias = otherwise
olim = formerly
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17-02-2012, 4:06 PM #5
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Thank you all for teaching me Latin. I believe I have sorted out a bit of the relationship and will work on.
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