Genealogy Chat

I am trying desperately to find the death of a gt grandmother, but how can I find her if I do`nt know her surname? I would welcome with gratitude any suggestions of how to solve this problem. The situation is this Gt grandparents splits up in or after 1881 and each takes another partner. Gt grandad states on census his new lady is his 'wife' (from 1891) however, he was not free to legally marry until 1910. Obviously this gives a clue as to the other wife`s death. Must have been in 1910 or just before. BUT How do I find her when I do not know her surname, or where she is? There is a possibility she may have returned to her birthplace to live with the new partner and eventually died there (Derby) I think this is a possibilty because gt grandad married his 'wife' there, probably to avoid her relations knowing that they had been 'living in sin' since previous to 1891 Any suggestions as to find a way of tracing her death would be welcome Any ideas ??????

What evidence do you have to decide that he was not free to marry until abt 1910? Can you see the previous wife on 1891 census, ...and in 1901? I have a 'married' couple in 1891, who actually got married the following year. As the bride's previous huband had died in 1876 and the groom's previous wife in 1882, I've no idea why they didn't marry before.....or indeed why they then decided to marry. Gwyn

Thank you Gwyneth for your reponse. I have no evidence as such, except that her death has never been found under either her maiden or married name. My grandmother , who had been sent to Canada as an 'orphan' by her sister, later confessed to the Home authorities there, that she was NOT an orphan and that she had received a letter from her father who was then living in B/ham. She also said that her grandmother (meaning her maternal one) with whom she had been staying had died,(in 1886) her sister then took her to Edinburgh in Scotland. She never at any time made a reference about her mother being dead, only the grandmother (I had received a report about her from Barnardos)all the children were split up and living in different places,previous to 1881, except that grandmother was with them in 1881,for an unknown period of time, before going to live with her maternal grandmother Gt grandmother does not appear on any other census after 1881 again ,either with her maiden or married name I can only assume therefore that she must have been using another surname. You can imagine how difficult it has been for me to try and find her, especially as no relatives are left who could answer questions about her. Unless of course I should be lucky enough to find a descendant who knows the true story! if only!... I live in hope that this could happen

Hi - I don't suppose your grt grandma had anything distinguishable about her did she ...an unusual name...or an occupation...or an uncommon birthplace... I was able to find an ancestor on the census by using this method and finding her with her new common-law hubby - and the children she had with her, although bearing the new hubby's surname, all had the right firstnames and birthyears as with her previous husband, which confirmed she was the right woman. I think it's called clutching at straws :)