EUREKA! But why didn't I think of that before?

[Latchfordian]

I wonder how many of you have spent many hours trying to get through that brick wall only to suddenly realise, after much head-banging, that there's an easy way around it? I have spent a lot of time on and off during the past few months trying to find out what happened to my GG-Grandmother who disappeared from the face of the earth after the 1861 census. I couldn't find her in any later census or find any record of her death, so where had she gone to?

Well yesterday, whilst searching for clues in what records I had of her, the penny suddenly dropped. Her husband had died in 1867 as I'd known for some time, so what if she'd re-married? Sure enough after a short search I found that she had indeed re-married in 1870 and, of course, went by her new name in subsequent censuses. I was overjoyed at finding this but kicked myself for not thinking of it sooner, as it seems so obvious now. I suppose you knowledgeable RootsChatters would have investigated this route much earlier, but it simply didn't occur to me with my limited experience.

Has anybody else had the delight of a discovery tempered somewhat by a feeling of stupidity? 

Jim

[hugatree]

Don't beat yourself up Jim, we've all done it, and aything is obvious when you know the answer 

[weste]

Probably to close to see it! I  found a good idea from a rootschat member, hopefully my ancestor grett graddad has an exceptional/obviously recognisable signature then i can compare copies of handwriting from original documents. He's got a common surname  he changed from and i doubt if he'll have changed the christian names , he may have reversed them.  I need to find granddad's birth cert. There are several areas to search and at least 3 areas to check. I probably would have thought to do this when i have the certs in my hands. I feel a trip to kettering, barnsley and may be back to wakefield coming on !!!

[Ringrose]

My ggrandmother lost her husband in 1888,4 years after the birth of her last child....number10.i found her in the 1891 census with 7 of her children,but not in the 1901.i first searched for a death but nothing came up.I then saw a marriage for someone of the same name,in the same area and sent for the cert.Eureka,,,,she remarried in. 1893 .She was not on the 1901 census under her married name and again I found 2 possible death pre .1900.i sent for one death cert and luckily it was the right one.....she died in 1898 from TB.
Ringrose

[Maggie.]

Has anybody else had the delight of a discovery tempered somewhat by a feeling of stupidity? 

Isn't it lovely when you find them again? 

In my own family I have lots of examples of this.  A man with a young family will be widowed and very quickly he re-marries for the very practical reason of needing a mother for his children.  Very often he will be marrying a woman herself recently widowed, with her own family, and needing the support of a man.  When times were hard and possibly re-settlement and the workhouse just round the corner a quick re-marriage would be a very practical solution.

[genjan1953]

It definitely helps, I think, to stop racking the brain cells for a while and turn your mind to something different, perhaps a different ancestor/line completely.  Then when you return to the original search, it all becomes clearer.

I did use a bit of lateral thinking on one particularly puzzling ancestral trail.  My GGrandmother appeared on the 1881 Census as a domestic servant, aged 14, living in the home of a wealthy family.  I couldn't find her for months on the 1891 Census, despite extensive searching, and I knew she didn't marry until 1893 so she had to be on there somewhere under her 'maiden name', didn't she?  Wrong!  One day, I thought it might be worth checking the 1891 Census record for the family she had been living with in 1881.  There was just a chance she was still with that family.  I checked and Lo and Behold! she was indeed still with them, aged 24, but listed as the daughter of the Head of the Household under his family name.  I knew it was her because the first names, age and place of birth were correct ... it was just that her surname had been entered erroneously.

That discovery was a sweet moment.  Sometimes it's worth thinking 'outside the box', something I don't do often enough  

[Rishile]

I had a recent Eureka moment identical to yours Jim.  My Gtx3 grandmother couldn't be found in the 1861 census and no death record either.  I suddenly wondered if she had married again and, lo and behold, there she was with a husband 17 years younger than her    As she was in her mid-60's by then, I was really pleased for her.

I gave myself a further pat on the back when I realised there are a lot of trees on Ancestry with her on there but none mention this second husband.

Now I just need to find second husbands for all the other women that 'disappeared'

Rishile

[panda40]

I spent many years trying to find out what became of my2x  great grandfather. Because he was a farm labourer I continued to search the county in which he was born for what happened to him after his wife died in 180. last sighting of him in 1881 census. No luck and then thanks to the kind people on this website someone pointed me in the right direction. He had moved to WALES remarried lied about his age and had a second family. I am now trying to establish contact with all my new relations so I can help them fill in the gaps.
regards panda

[MargP]

As a newbie some 10 years ago, I spent a good year searching for my mom's first  marriage, after several dead ends, I had the EUREKA MOMMENT and decided to do a one name search on both of them, and low and behold, I found her supposed husband was already married with a wife and child, they had eloped while in service together, I then had to tell my half brother that he had an half brother out there somewhere, I think Mills and Boon comes to mind on this one.

Margp