In search of a maiden name for Maude

In genealogy, one always works backwards from death to life to birth.. We have a rough idea of when a grandparent died, for example, plus his or her married name and number of children. From there, we can trace the children's births and the couple's marriage certificate. In the case of a woman, either her child's birth certificate or her marriage certificate will state her maiden name, and this name, in turn, lets us trace her family of origin.

In the case of Maude Alice Ritchie, my great-grandmother, however, I had neither a birth certificate for her son, my grandfather, nor her marriage certificate. I didn't even know who her husband was. On the surface of things, I was stumped, unable to get beyond her married surname to her surname at birth.

Except that families have traditions, and one tradition that expresses itself repeatedly in English and Scottish ancestry is the passing on of family names. I had noticed, and my sister confirmed this from her research, that the name David Ritchie was prolific, especially in Scotland and the north of England. There was a good chance, therefore, that my grandfather, David Scott Ritchie, was named after his father. In other words, I could try searching online for a marriage that took place shortly before 1902 [the year my grandfather was born] using the names Maude Alice and David Scott Ritchie.

Would you believe it, this actually worked! i found a Maude Alice Parker together with a David Scott Ritchie, an Ann Bell and a John Vale on the same marriage record for 1902 in Paddington. Well, the location was right, since Paddington was where my grandfather was born. But how could the marriage have taken place in 1902 if Grandad had been born on 31 March of that year?

Unless...

There was also the question of the two extra people, Ann Bell and John Vale, on the marriage register. perhaps Maude had married John, with Ann and David standing as witnesses, or vice versa. Or perhaps the date signalled a wrong match altogether. But finding Maude and David together on a marriage record with a familiar location couldn't be a random coincidence. There are times when you simply have to proceed in faith, and this was one of those times!