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Women who could not write
| Profile | Posted by | Options | Post Date |
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Brenda | Report | 27 Jul 2003 02:17 |
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I have received various certificates for my names and was surprised to see that my great grandmother(paternal) had to put her mark when she registered my grandfather's birth.At first I suspected this was due to them living in a rural location,So I was even more amazed when other certificates (Marriage)show that even in a city it looks like the men could sign the certificate but none of the women could write as they all state "her mark" by the name.Is this the case I am talking of 1860 to 1891.Only a female witness seems capable of signing her name. |
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Karen | Report | 27 Jul 2003 08:28 |
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Hi While looking for a rellies marriage and trawling the registers in B'ham, I noticed that most of the certificates at this particular church had the same witness and he also seemed to be the only one who could write. This person must have really liked wedding cake or charged for every signature!! Karen |
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Gary | Report | 27 Jul 2003 10:20 |
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From the birth and marriage certificates I have obtain it certainly seems that in the early part of the 18thC a lot of my ancestors could not sign their own signature. In the case of my great grandmother she never did learn to and her father could not either. However, they all seemed to marry someone who did! Gary |
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Martin | Report | 27 Jul 2003 10:26 |
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Hiya, a lot of the records I looked at in the 1800's most of them had to sign with a cross. One of the records the women (think my g g g g grandma) signed her name and her husband couldnt. |
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Pamela | Report | 27 Jul 2003 21:47 |
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Non-writing females carried on until quite recently My mothers aunt, born 1890, alive into the 1960's was the eldest girl in a family of 10 and was kept off school so much to help look after the other babies that she couldn't read or write, her husband and daughter had to read the newspaper and letters to her. To balance that My Gt Grandfather who died in 1937 age 78, who had cows and a milk round allegedly couldnt read or write, and carried all his milk round and farm accounts in his head, but he did sign his mariage certificate. Until 1880 married women couldnt own property, and so presumably couldnt enter into valid contracts, and therefore didnt need to learn how to sign their name? Just a suggestion. Pam |
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