Family History Research: Finding a Spouse for Matilda Grant - Part Two

In Part 1, we traced Matilda Grant through the available records on FamilySearch until we reached the 1861 England and Wales Census. At that point, Matilda was listed as a widow living in Wolverhampton, Staffordshire.

With no later records attached to her profile, the next step is to search beyond FamilySearch. Since we know she was living in Staffordshire and had likely married before the birth of her children, Staffordshire marriage records on Findmypast are a logical place to continue the search.

I searched the Staffordshire Marriages and Banns collection on Findmypast using Matilda's name and an estimated marriage year of 1865, allowing for ten years on either side. This search returned one result for Matilda Wilford.

The record showed that Matilda Wilford married William Jones on 11 January 1864 at St. Stephen, Willenhall, Staffordshire. Matilda was listed as a widow, age 50, living at Mosley Hole. Her father was recorded as Thomas Grant. His occupation is difficult to decipher. My instinct is thinking he was a weaver. However just having a name is a huge win for our research!

This record is important because it connects Matilda Wilford back to the Grant surname and provides her father's name. It also confirms that she remarried after being listed as a widow in the 1861 census.

From here, we are going to follow the census records on from 1861

1871

As expected, a search for William and Matilda Jones in Willenhall, Staffordshire, returned a household that matched the marriage record. William Jones, age 70, was listed as the head of the household, with his wife Matilda, age 59, living beside him. William's occupation was recorded as a pig laborer.

Finding this census was an important step because it confirmed that the 1864 marriage record belonged to the same Matilda Grant who appeared as a widow in the 1861 census. Rather than ending our research with her first husband's death, we can continue following Matilda through the rest of her life under her new surname.

1881

Once again, the couple was living in Willenhall, Staffordshire, confirming that we had continued to follow the correct family. William was listed as the head of the household with Matilda recorded as his wife. They had now been married for nearly twenty years.

Finding Matilda in multiple census records after her remarriage helps us build a timeline of her later life. Rather than viewing a marriage record as the end of the search, each new record provides another opportunity to learn where she lived, how long she remained with William, and where to continue looking next.

1891

By this time, William had passed away, and Matilda was no longer living in the household they had shared together.

Instead, Matilda appeared in the home of Samuel and Mary Price. At first glance, it can be easy to assume that everyone in a household shares the same relationship to the head of the family. However, the relationship column tells a different story. Matilda is listed as "Mother-in-law," meaning she is Mary's mother and is living with her married daughter.

This census provides another glimpse into Matilda's later years. After William's death, she moved in with her daughter and son-in-law. It also serves as a reminder of why it is so important to read every column of a census. If we had focused only on the names, we might have overlooked the valuable family relationship recorded in the census.

This record also highlights how the later England censuses can reveal changing family circumstances. As parents aged and were widowed, it was common for them to live with one of their adult children. Following those changing households helps us continue our ancestor's story from one generation to the next.

Today, we extended Matilda's story well beyond the last record attached to her FamilySearch profile. We discovered her 1864 marriage to William Jones, followed the couple through the 1871 and 1881 England censuses, and finally located Matilda in the 1891 census living with her daughter, Mary Price, after William's death.

Each record answered one question while creating another. That's often how family history research works. Every discovery becomes a stepping stone to the next.

In the next part of this series, we'll continue searching for Matilda's death and begin working backward to identify her parents. With the clues we've gathered so far, we're in a much stronger position to uncover the next chapter of her story.