RootsChat.Com
Scotland (Counties as in 1851-1901) => Scotland => Sutherland => Topic started by: pergamond on Wednesday 01 February 17 10:21 GMT (UK)
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I'm wondering how the authorities would know a childless widow's mother's maiden name for the death register. The person I'm thinking of died in the Sutherland Combination Poorhouse in 1920, and I'm questioning the accuracy of her mother's maiden name. The informant was the Governor.
When people were first admitted to this institution, would they have told them these details, do you think?
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I don't know about this one, but relatives I found in the poorhouse in Glasgow did give an enormous amount of information when they were admitted. I found the names of their parents, place of birth etc. All because the authorties often would send people back to the parish they were born if they became ill or needed charity. Mine were sent back from Glasgow to Ireland.
So maybe you can see if she had been in the poorhouse before and then look at the details given at admission.
Hope this helps.
Greenvalley
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As a widow, she may have been asked for her late husbands name and their date of marriage etc. If she married 1855 onwards her parents name and mothers maiden name would be readily available from records
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Thank you both. Then the info on her death record is probably correct. I'll contact the Highland Archive Centre anyway just to check if they have any records.
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What details did she give in her marriage registration re her mother? Have you found her in the ealier censuses before her marriage with any family?
Monica :)
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It's to do with pronunciation and spelling - Stafford / Stavert. Different spelling of her mothers maiden name on different records - her marriage different from her death, and different siblings' death records giving either version. This has led to me originally thinking there may be several families, but it now appears most likely that it is one family. I checked her marriage, and the witnesses give further proof of this, because of their relationships to her siblings. So thanks Monica! I hadn't checked that thoroughly.
I have emailed the Highland archives to see if I can access any records they have for the Sutherland Combination Poorhouse, just to check further. But it probably isn't necessary. :)
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I'm wondering how the authorities would know a childless widow's mother's maiden name for the death register. The person I'm thinking of died in the Sutherland Combination Poorhouse in 1920, and I'm questioning the accuracy of her mother's maiden name. The informant was the Governor.
When people were first admitted to this institution, would they have told them these details, do you think?
Yes. Judging by the Poor Law records I have seen (from other counties, not from Sutherland), people applying to the parochial board were routinely asked for the names, and sometimes the birthplaces, of their parents. It was all part of establishing where an applicant's 'settlement' was, so that if a person with 'settlement' in another parish was given relief, the cost could be reclaimed from wherever their 'settlement' was.
The rules were (not surprisingly) complicated but most people's 'settlement' was either their parish of birth or the parish in which they had most recently lived continuously for 5 years (later reduced to 3 years). A married woman acquired her husband's 'settlement'.