Genealogy Chat

A relative of mine certainly used her husband's name before they were married; she appears in two censuses with his surname. But the marriage entry shows her maiden name.

See below

I have a rellie John Pike Dart who married in Q2 1862 in Plymouth, the other person on the page is Betsey Dart. I am pretty certain that Betsey was the name of his wife, they emigrated to Oz. Now my question to all you wise ones, is it likely he married a cousin, although I can't find Betsey Dart on any census only Elizabeth who was his sister. What do you think, would i need to buy the cert to clarify this. Nicky

I think you certainly should, as there are only two people on the page. Ihave you considered that betsy/john maybe bro and sister that had a joint wedding?

Hi Jane. Yes she could have been. Will need to dig around to see if i can find an Elizabeth who may have been his cousin. It was the co-incidence of the surname. Although he lived in Chulmleigh Devon he married in the Plymouth district, then he emigrated to Oz. I think maybe he married just before he went as he would have left from Plymouth.

Well, lets hope he didn't marry his sister!! She is probably a cousin, or someone previously married to a member of his family. As you cannot see her easily on the earlier censuses, I would suggest you buy the marriage cert, as knowledge of her father's name and occupation will make her esier to trace. Do you already know her age? (from her death record, maybe?) Merry

Hi Jess. No didn't think of that. Its just that there were only the 2 names on the page. Could be that they had a joint wedding then all emigrated. Maybe will have to add this cert to my list. Nicky

Hi Merry. Yes her d.o.d has been given as 1912 and she was 82 so dob about 1830. Will def need to do more digging around with this one. Nicky

Ah. Found one living in Zeal Monochorum spelt Betsy, this isn't to far from Chulmleigh.I now need to find out if she is a cousin. Nicky

Hi Nicky I too was going to suggest a double wedding, because I've come across a few of these with my own. However, if there are only two on the page that does make a difference. I've seen some modern-day marriages where the surnames are the same, and then discovered that the woman had been using the husband's surname before their marriage. Don't suppose this would have been possible back then, would it? Mandy :)