Tracing your family tree can be immensely rewarding and many people begin by researching their male ancestors. After all, it was the men who were the breadwinners, who went off to war, and who led the interesting lives. Or was it?
In this book, Margaret Ward shines a light on the often-forgotten female side of the family - what their marriages meant to them, how they coped in peace and war, and how they were viewed by the law and by society. Her book is a mine of information and ideas for all those who are researching their family tree and for those who would just like to know more about the lives of their female ancestors.
Contents:
Introduction
1. Following the Female Lies
- The name's the problem
- Starting with yourself
- Talk to your older female relatives
2. What did she look like?
- Family photographs
- Other ways to picture her
- Finding out more
3. Merry Wives? Marriage, Women and the Law
- How did she meet him?
- In the eyes of the law
- Finding out more
4. Relicts and Old Virgins
- Widows
- Single women
- Finding out more
5. Passionate Politics and a Public Life
- Fighting for the vote
- In county and parish
- Charities, societies and the church
- Finding out more
6. Criminal Women
- Female crime
- Prison, transportation or the gallows?
- Finding out more
7. A Working Life
- Women at work
- Finding out more
8. Women and War
- Wives and nurses
- Twentieth century world war
- War work and the home front
- Finding out more
9. Timeline 1800-1950: A Selective List
Appendix: A word about sources
Acknowledgements
Bibliography
Index
Review:Suffragism, Feminism and other social changes of the 20th century have meant that the place iof women in society has come a long way in a very short space of time. But priot to that recent social revolution, it was definately a man's world. Men hunted for food, ploughed the field, brught home th bacon, worked outside the home, went to war ... and there is a wealth of official documentation to reflect that. This is a fascinating insight into a area of family history that's too often neglected - Review, Your Family History Magazine, January 2004 Issue 7
