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  • Widows reverting to Maiden Name...

    Hi Everyone,

    Was this common practice throughout the UK, or just Scotland? Or was it just for the purposes of the census?

    Also regarding professions on 1841 Scottish census, I have an ancestor who is stated as fisherman on his daughters marriage notice, and what looks like "Mer S" on the census. Would this be merchant seaman? And what does "F S" mean? I assumed it means they were workers for the family, maids etc

    Thanks,
    Craig

  • #2
    Special abbreviations on the 1841 census include MS = male servant and FS = female servant.

    I don't know about Scotland but from what I have seen it is almost unheard of for a widow to revert to her maiden name.

    Anne

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    • #3
      I have a few wives in Scottish censuses recorded under the maiden name, with the father and children taking the father's name.
      Uncle John - Passed away March 2020

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      • #4
        I only have one instance of it in all my family history and its research. But she didn't revert to her maiden name but her first married name.

        But the lady (my great great aunt) had married and had children he died then she married someone else who had children so all the family lived together and then the second husband died and she was just left with her younger children, his had flown the nest. Her lot had her first husbands name so I think she reverted back to not cause any gossip - she moved about a bit!

        Other than that I would think it very unsual then. Not now of course but iin those times I would. Marriage was a bit of a status thing even if you were a widow.

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        • #5
          Originally posted by Uncle John View Post
          I have a few wives in Scottish censuses recorded under the maiden name, with the father and children taking the father's name.
          Would that be because they used their maiden name as a middle name rather than a surname?

          Scottish heritage put a lot of store on carrying on both names.

          I have plenty of names to vouch for that scenario.

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          • #6
            Many of my married Scottish ancestors are on the census under their maiden names, especially on the 1841!

            I think it was Scottish custom to refer to a woman by her maiden name even if she was a married woman - this showed respect for her father.

            It can be very confusing though, especially as the 1841 census doesn't generally give relationships.

            My male scottish ancestors switched between fisherman and something else all the time. I think this just reflects the uncertain living of a fisherman.

            OC

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            • #7
              Loads of my Scottish married and widowed women change to and fro between maiden and married names from census to census.

              I haven't come across it at all on my English lines.
              Gillian
              User page: http://www.familytreeforum.com/wiki/...ustGillian-117

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              • #8
                Originally posted by Olde Crone Holden View Post
                Many of my married Scottish ancestors are on the census under their maiden names, especially on the 1841!

                I think it was Scottish custom to refer to a woman by her maiden name even if she was a married woman - this showed respect for her father.
                Which is why they carried on the surnames as middle names a lot I think. Am I right?

                It makes it easier for Scottish family history though in some respects linking up the names.

                I have three middle names two of them surnames, my mother was English btw.

                I've never known women in English census to revert to their maiden names.

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                • #9
                  Maggie

                  Certainly on my Scottish side, everyone (men AND women) have significant family names as a middle name, which sometimes makes tracing them very easy.

                  However, I have a living uncle who has the two middle names of Charles Smith! I asked him why he had these names and he said he hadn't got a clue. I forgot about it, but was absolutely astonished to eventually discover that his 5 x GGF, and my 6 x GGF, was called Charles Smith, born about 1698.

                  What astonished me most was that the family had remembered him! As far as I know, none of this was written down anywhere in the family, and the name had not been given to anyone between 1699 and 1930!

                  OC

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                  • #10
                    After my (Scottish) m-i-l died, we were discussing the funeral arrangements with the minster. He remarked on her very unusual middle name. This prompted me to try and get her ancestry back further and the name turned up as the surname of her great-grandmother. It has also appeared as a middle name among members of intervening generations.
                    Uncle John - Passed away March 2020

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Uncle John View Post
                      After my (Scottish) m-i-l died, we were discussing the funeral arrangements with the minster. He remarked on her very unusual middle name. This prompted me to try and get her ancestry back further and the name turned up as the surname of her great-grandmother. It has also appeared as a middle name among members of intervening generations.
                      Yep I only have one thing from my father and that is his name and all the others too plus his mothers and her mothers and my mothers too.


                      He registered me and I think he went a bit mad with the Scottish side, but that's good because I haven't seen him since :D

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                      • #12
                        Sounds like the chap in the 1930s who changed his name to Leslie Maurice Smith to match the monograms on his towels and crockery.
                        Uncle John - Passed away March 2020

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                        • #13
                          Many of my Scottish ancestors were shown by their maiden name on the census after the loss of their husbands.
                          Another one to look out for is the term widow - I have a couple who appear on the census as "Widow MacKay" or "Widow Campbell".
                          So even if you can't find a relative by their maiden name - try the marrried or maiden name with "Widow" as the first name.
                          herky
                          Last edited by herky; 13-02-09, 21:40. Reason: "middle name" replaced by "maiden name"
                          herky
                          Researching - Trimmer (Farringdon), Noble & Taylor (Ross and Cromarty), Norris (Glasgow), McGilvray (Glasgow and Australia), Leck & Efford (Glasgow), Ferrett (Hampshire), Jenkins & Williams (Aberystwyth), Morton (Motherwell and Tipton), Barrowman (Glasgow), Lilley (Bromsgrove and Glasgow), Cresswell (England and Lanarkshire). Simpson, Morrow and Norris in Ireland. Thomas Price b c 1844 Scotland.

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                          • #14
                            Originally posted by Uncle John View Post
                            Sounds like the chap in the 1930s who changed his name to Leslie Maurice Smith to match the monograms on his towels and crockery.

                            No.

                            Its definitely my father's name and mine too.

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                            • #15
                              Herky

                              Yes, I found several relatives under the first name "widow" lol!

                              OC

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                              • #16
                                Originally posted by herky View Post
                                Many of my Scottish ancestors were shown by their maiden name on the census after the loss of their husbands.
                                Another one to look out for is the term widow - I have a couple who appear on the census as "Widow MacKay" or "Widow Campbell".
                                So even if you can't find a relative by their middle name - try the marrried or maiden name with "Widow" as the first name.
                                herky
                                Oh of course like Widow Twanky...

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                                • #17
                                  My Scottish grandmother was staying with us (in England) when a neighbour called and my mother introduced granny as "This is my mother, Elspeth Bonnyman, Widow Craig".

                                  OC

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                                  • #18
                                    Sorry - edit inserted - when I said "middle name", I meant "maiden name".
                                    herky
                                    Researching - Trimmer (Farringdon), Noble & Taylor (Ross and Cromarty), Norris (Glasgow), McGilvray (Glasgow and Australia), Leck & Efford (Glasgow), Ferrett (Hampshire), Jenkins & Williams (Aberystwyth), Morton (Motherwell and Tipton), Barrowman (Glasgow), Lilley (Bromsgrove and Glasgow), Cresswell (England and Lanarkshire). Simpson, Morrow and Norris in Ireland. Thomas Price b c 1844 Scotland.

                                    Comment


                                    • #19
                                      You will often find Scottish women listed under both surnames as well, with "or" separating them.
                                      KiteRunner

                                      Every five years or so I look back on my life and I have a good... laugh"
                                      (Indigo Girls, "Watershed")

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                                      • #20
                                        A lot of the married women in my Scottish line also used their maiden names whether still amrried or widowed.

                                        A couple of the females form Lancashire kept their maiden names after marriage as well, with one case where the man took his wife's maidne name as his surname. I'd think that was for inheritance.

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