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From Lostcousins
Don't assume it's correct….
There's a common theme that runs through the emails I get from members who are up against a 'brick wall' - in almost every case they've assumed that the information they already have is correct. Of course, when you stop and think you'll realise that if you can't find the answer - then you're almost certainly looking in the wrong place, at the wrong time, or for the wrong name. But often we're so wrapped up in the mystery that we don't stop and look at the problem objectively.
A common assumption is that if an ancestor gives the same birthplace on several censuses, then it must be right. Here's a tip - people are born at a very early age! As a result, many people didn't know where they were born, and simply assumed that the first home they remembered was where they had started life.
On the same theme, many people didn't know their parents' names. Why would they? It's only recently that some children have started to call their parents by name, and even today some parents call each other "mother" and "father" when the children are present. No wonder marriage certificates are so often incorrect.
Here's another one: if you've only known one father, whose name are you going to put on your marriage certificate? That's an easy one to answer, but of course the only father you know isn't necessarily your biological father - a widow with young children had a stark choice: remarry, go to the workhouse, or starve. (It wasn't any better for a widower.)
Excellent advice I think!!
_________________
Mel
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