Genealogy Chat

Just realised I didn't have my maternal grandfather's mother's maiden name on my tree, so I looked up marriages for John Jefferson and Harriet in all districts between Q1 1875 (when both parents would have been 20/21) and Q4 1878 (the year in which their first child was born) and found one possible in Worksop in Q2 1877. Clicking on the page number brings up:

BATES Harriett Worksop 7b 71
BOWLAND Henry John Worksop 7b 71
JEFFERSON John Worksop 7b 71
SWINDELLS Emma Worksop 7b 71

Am I to assume that my Harriet(t)'s maiden name is Bates?

Thanks all

Never assume........the best way is to buy the cert. so as to check you have the correct people, that will also give you their fathers names ,so will help you to move back another generation.

To match it up you will need one of the childrens birth certs, to double check on the mmn., personally I would buy that one first I always purchase certs. for my direct line, ........ its all to easy to trace back on the wrong people.


Nicky

Yes, it would be reasonable to assume so, but you would need to order the cert to be certain. I would also check the census returns for both, before and after the marriage.

An example of why you should`nt assume.......


Marriages Mar 1874 (>99%)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hambrook William Robert Warrington 8c 238
Jefferson John Warrington 8c 238
Lawless Sarah Jane Warrington 8c 238
Lawlless Sarah Jane Warrington 8c 238
Millington Harriat Warrington 8c 238
Millington Harriet Warrington 8c 238

Not everyone married and then stayed in the same place to have their family. Many children were stillborn or died young, the 1st child you find with parents on the census return is not nessecarily the 1st child born to the couple, which is why you must buy certificates to confirm your findings.

Nicky

1881
Harriet Jefferson John abt 1854 Leeds, Yorkshire, England Wife Worksop, Nottinghamshire
1871
Harriott Bates William,
Mary abt 1854 Leeds, Yorkshire, England Daughter Worksop, Nottinghamshire

Nicky, whilst what you say is absolutely correct

I tend to restrict the purchase of certificates, when funds allow, to our direct lines, or to put matters beyond doubt when there are conflicting possibilities.

As most of us can't afford to buy every single certificate, we all have to make some 'reasonable' assumptions based on the facts and information we have in front of us.

Hence my suggestion to corroborate the 'assumption' with references to the census returns.

In this case it look a good'un to me.

I agree with Nicky as in never assume

.....This could be Harriets 2nd marriage & if it were then she would marry under her 1st Husbands surname & by buying the cert you'll find out if it was or wasn't

Brinsley, PeeGee, sheila and Julie...

Thanks all of you for your input, .....totally agree about not being able too afford all certificates, { tell me about it!!} but I did state that I always try and purchase certs for my direct line..... however in NetGrrl`s case this is also her Direct line, and she obviously dosn`t have a birth cert. for her grandfather either or she would already have her Gr grandmas maiden name, without the marriage cert, how is she going to find Harriets parents? I was merely trying to stop her going off in the wrong direction, its all to easily done, and though certs. ar`nt always totally accurate, correct maiden names are essential for tracing back further generations.

I admit there is a very good chance that this is the correct marriage,and I also check out the "other couple" in the census, but in this case {the 1877 marriage NetGrll found} this merely proves that John Jefferson did marry Harriet and not Emma, still dosn`t nessecarily make them the gr grandparents, and the other John Jefferson marriage { 1874} i found was in Warrington, not a million miles from Worksop.

Nicky