* Surnames in Brackets

[brianlummis]

My normal way of working with new software is to scan read the instructions then start to use the basics and when I think I have a broad idea of how things work I go back to the Manual/Help Files to see what I am missing!

With that in mind I have just got a copy of Getting The Most From Family Historian 6 and started to work through the book which has led me to looking again at the Sample Project. What struck me was that there were some entries with the Surname in brackets which relate to married women where their birth name is unknown. However I could find no reference to this practice in the book, help files or the FHUG Knowledge Base, although I stand to be corrected.

I have numerous cases where I have not got a record of the birth name and I can see some advantage in adopting this system, the greatest being in the Records Window for Individuals as at least I will know who of the many Elizabeth's belongs to who. When I was using TMG this was not a problem as the name of the Spouse was detailed on the equivalent listing.

I have two questions - first what are the advantages/disadvantages of adopting the practice of bracketed surnames and secondly how do I go about changing the present blanks into married surnames in brackets, if this is considered to be good practice?

Brian

[tatewise]

As you say, the main advantage is to differentiate all the women with the same forename in the Records Window.

Bear in mind that in their Property Box you can see their husband(s) on the Spouse tab.

However, you can differentiate them other ways in the Records Window:

• Double click the record to open her Property Box and reveal her husband(s) on Spouse tab.
• Click the [+] to expand her record and reveal her husband(s) in the Spouse family link(s).
• Customise a Column to display Spouse details.

Also consider what to do for women with multiple partners/spouses/marriages - which surname will you use?

The ways to change those women's surnames are either one by one by hand, or write a Plugin to automate, but it needs to know how to handle multiple partners/spouses/marriages.

[brianlummis]

Thanks Mike. I think that unless anyone can think of some other good reason to use bracketed surnames I will set up a custom column in the Records Window.

I was just curious that bracketed names had appeared in the Sample Project with no explanation and wondered if I had missed something!

Brian

[tatewise]

I have not got Getting The Most From Family Historian 6 and do not see much point in knowledgeable users buying it.

But, as I've said elsewhere, a drawback is it's difficult for me to advise users who have the book where to find specific advice.

The book now uses the Family Historian Sample Project as the basis of its tutorials instead of separate tutorial Gedcoms.

I wonder if there are any tutorial references in the book to those female surnames in brackets that might explain why they exist?

BTW: When setting up the Records Window Column consider multiple partners/spouses.

[brianlummis]

I can quite understand why you would not find the book of use, Mike, as much of it is aimed at the beginner!

I have had a look at all the indexed references to Married Names and Marriages and have not come across any mention of the use of brackets. It may be hidden away in one of the tutorials and if so I will come back to this post.

Your BTW postscript has now got me scratching my head as I have managed to get a Spouse column in the Records Window but had not thought about multiple spouses! At the moment something is better than nothing and in practice I wonder how many times the additional spouse(s) will be useful bearing in mind that I have got the option ticked to Include Husband's Surname when using the filter.

Brian

[LornaCraig]

You can add extra columns for further spouses. The data reference will be INDI.~SPOU[2]>NAME for the second spouse, INDI.~SPOU[3]>NAME for third spouse and so on.
If you only want to see the spouse surnames use INDI.~SPOU[2]>NAME:SURNAME etc.

[Gowermick]

I get round problem of unknown surnames, by using Nee ?? in the surname, like Mary /Smith Nee ??/. for example, when I know Bill Smith has a wife called Mary from a census, but I have yet to find their marriage.

This has two advantages
1. I don't get confused over the many Mary /Unknown/ in the list of names, knowing who is matched to who
2. It reminds me that I have a marriage to find.
3. Useful also when a marriage involves a Widow, when I don't know her maiden name. So if Bill Smith marries widow Sarah Green, I show her as Sarah /Green Nee ??/

FH makes this easy, as I can bracket the surname with // to keep the parts together.

Just a suggestion, hope it helps