Searching female ancestors in many countries is complicated by the female adopting the last name of her husband at her marriage. Think about those things that do not change when trying to search for that female relative after her marriage:
- her first and, if she has one, middle names
- her date and place of birth
- her parents–she may have lived near them after her marriage. They may have lived with her in their old age.
- the names of her brothers–she may have lived near them after her marriage
- the names of her unmarried sisters–they may have lived with her at some point in their lives.
All of these can be ways to search finding aids to some records in your attempts to find the missing married female ancestor.
2 Responses
I found a “missing” great great grandmother by searching for her widowed sister-in-law. She had moved in with her after she herself was widowed.
I wish MyHeritage would realize this. They prefer married names. For people like me who have discovered marriages I never knew existed, it was a dead end at their site. I will never subscribe there for that reason.