In the days of our ancestors, (and maybe even our own parents?) it was a man’s world. Men could own property, obtain loans from a bank and drink in “public” bars. After marriage, men would retain their jobs – and their surname. A man’s history could thus be found, theoretically, by following records of his life from birth, education, employment, marriage, property ownership, business dealings and so on until his death and burial. So in researching our ancestors, we may well ask, “But what about the women?”.

Dr Noeline Kyle, who has written much about women’s history, has said that ‘during the nineteenth century the marriage laws in Australia, England and North America maintained the old English common law edict that once a woman married she lost her legal identity’.[1] Elsewhere, Beatrice Gottlieb wrote that ‘with few exceptions, a wife could not bring legal action in a court, make a contract, or own property’.[2] So beyond a birth, marriage and death record as well as a birth record of any children a woman had, how can we learn more about her life?

Gina Philibert-Ortega suggests that we should not research women ‘exactly like our male ancestors’, going on to say that ‘women, historically, did not always leave the same paper trail; a result of not always having the same legal rights as their male counterparts’.[3] From a researcher’s point of view, a woman’s name after marriage might be obliterated and only be known by her husband’s name and initials. Even my own mother, Isabel WALLACE, by convention, became “Mrs. E. W. HANSEN” when she married my father in the 1930s.

Future Blogs I aim to research are these four great grandmothers of Helen Jean Barlow.

So how am I to research the wives of my late wife’s great grandfathers? Researching for my earlier blogs, I had found that Alice ILAND married August BARLOW in Maryborough, Queensland; Rebecca MOORE had married William JONES in Wellingborough, Northampton; Elizabeth Marion BOWLES had partnered with William LAMBERT in Queensland; and Matilda RICHMOND had married David BROWN in Greenock, Scotland. They all had children, so the birthplaces of those children may help place the women geographically in time, along with the regular ten-year census of the families. I need to find the respective birth and death places for each of the great grandmothers and their marriage records might include an occupation if they had one. This is starting with the basics.

A birth record will hopefully provide her parents’ names, though often, only one parent, the mother, may appear. Even with one parent’s name, I might find siblings, and they might have both parents’ names in their birth record. Often, a child born out of wedlock may only have the mother’s name but later children, after a marriage, will likely have both parents listed. The record can show the place where she was born. If the informant was not the mother, it might have been another relative. The place and date of birth might help in locating a census record.

A census record can provide a wealth of information. It may include the whole family – her parents and siblings – along with ages, occupations, Birth County and sometimes a street address. If I look at others on the census page and maybe a few pages either side, I might find other relations living nearby. For example, one of my great grandfathers was living in Birmingham right next door to his mother and step-brother. If I’m lucky, I could follow the families through each ten-year census. This can give clues to changing occupations, changing places of abode and changes in family make-up, for example, when a child has left the family to work elsewhere or to marry. If not present in a further census, the person might have died since the last census or gone overseas.

England Census 1861 pt 1 above, pt 2 below. Consecutive pages showing John Ward living ‘Back 104 Brearley Street’ and his mother, Truth Ward, living ‘Back 106 Brearley Street’

The marriage record can not only provide the woman’s occupation if she had one and where she was living, but also may include the name of her father and his occupation. Witnesses to the marriage may have been a neighbour or a relative, such as a sibling or an aunt. The place of marriage may be, by some conventions, the church of her family and therefore lead to records of baptisms, marriages or deaths of other members of her family.

We know that death records can be less reliable, depending on who the informant is and their relationship, if any, to the deceased. However, I would expect to find the place of death and the place of burial or cremation. Cause of death may be included and living children are often listed, too. All of this can provide other avenues to search. Cemetery records might show other deceased family members and headstones might include other family names.

So far, this is only following the same standard paper trail that we would follow for the males. To follow a different strategy for a female ancestor, Philibert-Ortega suggests that creating an historical timeline can be ‘handy for tracking what she did that might have left a paper trail’.[4] This timeline might provide clues to how she might have been impacted and if she might have followed a cause, e.g. women’s suffrage, anti-conscription.

Perhaps she was a volunteer in the church or other charitable organisation? If she lived in a small town, they might have had a local newsletter with copies available through a local history group. There might be minutes of meetings or notices of events. Researching her name in newspaper archives might provide useful information concerning the person. I’ve used Trove to find out more about my ancestors in Australia and hopefully, British Newspapers will help with those women born in the UK.

 I feel I’m now ready to research the lives of Helen’s four great grandmothers for my next four blogs. I hope you will enjoy the ride with me. 

[1] Noeline Kyle, Finding Florence, Maude, Matilda, Rose, Unlock the Past, St Agnes, 2013, p. 11.
[2] Beatrice Gottlieb, The Family in the Western World, The Softback Preview, by arrangement with Oxford University Press, New York, 1993, p. 91.
[3] Gena Philibert-Ortega, ‘Introduction’, Tracing Your Female Ancestors, Moreshead Magazines Ltd., Canada, 2013, p. 6.
[4] Philibert-Ortega, ‘Introduction’, p. 6.