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Finding your female ancestors can be more difficult than men. Follow these tips to unlock new leads.
© Gallica - BnF
Gender inequalities in history and archives are pervasive. In addition to changing their name after marriage, women are not found in all registers. They did not have the right to vote before 1945, did not have a military draft card, did not have the right to own land, and did not even declare the birth of their children. Therefore, it is difficult to trace the lives of the women in our genealogy.
These few tips can guide you in your research:
Gather all the information you have about an ancestor: maiden name, married name, birth and death dates and places, marriage, children, occupation... Everything you already know is a starting point for your genealogical research.
In genealogy, the maiden name is important because it is usually with her name before marriage that she can be identified.
But, finding someone's maiden name is not always an easy task. You can search archives (see the woman as a child of...), request official documents, contact the family, or use online genealogy sites.
By "check" we mean "examine all the information in the archives". Birth and death records are interesting sources, even though women were only vaguely mentioned in them in past centuries. On the other hand, marriage records are often the most complete. They will give you useful information about the spouse.
Censuses are very useful for finding information about women. They will give you information about their age, profession, and family.
Examine them carefully as they also list women living alone (widows, singles, or divorced).
Some old records may contain a lot of information about women. Although these registers are not exclusively (or specifically) dedicated to women, it may be interesting to visit departmental archives or consult online sites to find useful information.
For example, there are registers of staff, patients, morals, and prisoners in which your female ancestors may be listed. By inquiring with the departmental archives, you might have access to registers dedicated to women: breastfeeding registers, registers of women in arms, registers of births for unmarried mothers...
Use notarial archives - wills, marriage contracts, or property division acts - to find information about your ancestors and their relationships.
By researching different women's organizations, you might find traces of your ancestors. Philanthropic societies, women's and feminist associations, workers' associations, assistance associations, there were many organizations.
You can find their traces in old newspapers and on Gallica, among others.
It's no longer to be proven, old press is an important resource in genealogy. Women in your genealogy may have been mentioned for their academic success, devotion, or due to a news event - all events in their public life that will allow you to learn more about them.
Old photos, correspondence, personal archive documents... Dig, ask, recover as much evidence as possible to find the women in your genealogy and learn more about their lives.
Since information about women is generally harder to find, it is important to verify and cross-check your sources. You will thus get a more complete picture of the lives of the women in your family tree.