Divorced woman's surname

[bearkat]

Was there a convention/preference for the surname used by a divorced woman in the early 1900s?  Did they continue to use their married name or revert to their maiden name?

[aghadowey]

Was there a convention/preference for the surname used by a divorced woman in the early 1900s?  Did they continue to use their married name or revert to their maiden name?

Where?

[AntonyMMM]

(in England/Wales) your surname is whatever you choose it to be ....she could have done either, or started using the name of a new partner, entirely up to her.

[GrahamSimons]

The old convention was that Jane Smith married John Jones.
She would then be in correspondence Mrs John Jones.
On divorce she would be Mrs Jane Jones.
Of course she could choose to call herself what she liked .......

[BumbleB]

I have a lady in my family groups who divorced her husband in 1871 (she was the instigator) and subsequently reverted to her maiden name when she re-married as a "divorced woman" in 1873.

[bearkat]

So that it seems that then, as now, anything goes.

It doesn't help when you're trying to track them.

[Kiltpin]

The old convention was that Jane Smith married John Jones.
She would then be in correspondence Mrs John Jones.
On divorce she would be Mrs Jane Jones.
Of course she could choose to call herself what she liked .......

 

A widow could also be Mrs Jane Jones. 

Regards 

Chas

[arthurk]

The old convention was that Jane Smith married John Jones.
She would then be in correspondence Mrs John Jones.
On divorce she would be Mrs Jane Jones.
Of course she could choose to call herself what she liked .......

 
A widow could also be Mrs Jane Jones. 

Could be, but not always. I've just been looking at a 1901 census return and because the house name seemed to be wrong I checked the description of the enumeration district. There I found the house name given correctly, but as "Mrs John Duncan's Grove Hill House" - the lady in question had been a widow for over 10 years and this was evidently felt to be the correct way to refer to her.

[KGarrad]

Off topic, but:

I used to work at Imperial Group,and developed the Pensioner's Payroll System.
We had a widow - husband was Lord Sinclair of Cleve.
She was adamant that she didn't want to called the Dowager Lady .. .
So I had to fiddle the system to address her as "May, Lady Sinclair of Cleve"
She had to be titled differently to her daughter-in-law, the new Lady Sinclair.