The usual sources:

Birth, death and marriage certificates - but always remember the sources of the information

Wills - of women, their husbands and their fathers

A woman’s brothers may provide key pieces of information

Newspapers

Old diaries and journals - in the family or in libraries and archives

Church/ society histories

Local histories

Directories - even the old ones

Divorce records

Ask all relatives and contacts for the anecdotes they have

Seek out family keepsakes

General information, to put the times in context:

Do general research on women at the time

Look (in newspapers) for the fashions of the times

Was she a domestic servant? Check the books on the topic

Was she a homesteader? Check the books on the topic

Remember that the definition of acceptable behaviour has changed over the years

Links of interest:

Invisible women ancestors

Finding the elusive woman

Early Canadiana Online -- find comments made by early settlers

Bibliography:

Pioneer Women of Vancouver Island, by Nellie de Bertrand Lugrin.

First Days Fighting Days: Women in Manitoba History, by Mary Kinnear.

Much To Be Done - Private Life in Ontario from Victorian Diaries, by Frances Hoffman and Ryan Taylor.

Piecing The Quilt: Sources for Women's History in the Saskatchewan Archives Board, by Barbara Powell and Myrna Williams.

Some Sources for Women's History at the Provincial Archives of Alberta, by Jean E. Dryden.


Remember - female lines are more reliable than male ones.


Updates? Corrections? Better examples? Send an e-mail to Dave

Updated October 6, 2006