Genealogy Chat

I don't think any offence will be taken as they were all in the same boat, I feel very proud of our ancestors, the way they managed without any help from the richer people, it must have been very hard for them but they managed and here we are to prove it. Irene

Not casting aspersions on your ancestor's intelligence, but it may be that when asked their name some people would give their birth name. Just like all our marriage certs showing a father's name and occupation when we know he was deceased some time ago.

census sheets that's a good point that irene

Do you have the census sheet or is this from the decoder, Don't forget that they would probably only have rooms and it would be easier for the sister to have a younger sister living with her then in a full house. Also the person taking the details was not always taking down the right information. It all depends what they asked and the way they asked it. A bit like Where were you born Where are you from, this could means the last place you were living. Have you got young margarets and Thomas birth certificates. Irene

1881 Margret Melvin abt 1858 Liverpool Wife Liverpool Margret Melvin abt 1880 Liverpool Daughter Liverpool Thomas Melvin abt 1858 Liverpool Head Liverpool Thomas Melvin abt 1878 Liverpool Son Liverpool 1901 no 34 - Margaret Grayley Head 20 Rose Melvin sister 10 no 36 - Margret O'donnell head 42 Michael O'donnell son 15 Mary O'donnell daug 7 Catherine O'donnell daug 17 i know that Thomas snr died in no 36 in the June so i presume they were still together, just he was at sea.

Put what you have on here and we can all have a look. See if we can find anything that we may have missed. Irene

they were married as someone else found the certifacte. To top it off, next door there's two daughters - one who's married & the other who's got the father's surname (he didn't die till a few months later) just looking for the other census - but they're all done a runner

Did the husband come back to her? Was she legally married? If she had discovered that her had married her bigamously, then she'd actually be single still. I had a relative whose first husband was a sailor. On her second marriage she had readopted her maiden name and married as a spinster. B

Louise Are you sure she was married? Are you sure it was her maiden name? Maybe she was married before and the children were fathered by her previous husband and she kept the name as it was also their's? nell

why would a married woman use her maiden name on a census when her husband was away at sea? (& all the kids have her surname)