Your Average Ancestor

Although we are each a unique child of our Heavenly Father, our lives on earth often share common patterns. Recognising these patterns can help us obey the Lord’s commandment to seek out our ancestors and perform sacred ordinances on their behalf.

When using FamilySearch, you may find hints under ‘Research Help’ such as:

“There is no evidence of another marriage, but this person lived long enough after the last spouse passed away to marry again,” or “Possible missing child. There is a gap of three or more years between the birth of one child and the next sibling.”

These suggestions are rooted in common historical family patterns. For instance, in the absence of government support, a widower with young children often remarried quickly—sometimes within months of a spouse’s death. A man needed help with childcare; a woman needed financial support. Life expectancy in England and Wales did not rise above forty until the end of the 19th century. This doesn’t mean there were no elderly people—just that one in five children died before their first birthday, and between one quarter and one third died before age fifteen.

Given these realities, we should search for possible second or third marriages and also review death and burial records to see if children died young. Families were generally large, with children born about every two years until the mother reached her early forties.

Before 1929, with parental consent, boys could legally marry at 14 and girls at 12—though this was rare. From the mid-16th century, most middle and working class women married at around 26, while men married between 27 and 29. For a short time around the turn of the 19th century, people married younger, but this was more common among the upper classes.

Most marriage partners came from the same social class and often the same occupation. Even in 1800, 90% of people married someone who lived within ten miles of them.

Divorce did not become legal in England and Wales until 1858. Even then, it remained rare: fewer than 500 divorces occurred annually by 1900, and by 1921 the ratio was still just one divorce for every 87 marriages.

When looking for early records, Anglican parish registers are the most complete and accessible sources before civil registration began in 1837. At the start of the 18th century, only about 5% of the population were nonconformists. By 1851, nearly half of regular worshippers were nonconformists, such as Methodists or Baptists. However, unlike the Church of England, most nonconformist groups were not legally required to keep records. That said, the 1753 Marriage Act required nearly all marriages (except for Quakers and Jews) to be conducted in an Anglican parish church. Ministers often noted when one or both individuals were not members of the Church of England.

Country areas generally had higher life expectancy than towns. As late as 1897, 18% of children in industrial towns died in their first year, compared to 10% in rural areas. Throughout history, about 40% of the population was aged between 25 and 59, and around 8–9% lived past age 60.

Wills are another rich source of information. They often name extended family members, not just spouses and children. Wills were not limited to the wealthy. In fact, their availability increases the further back you go. From 1560 to 1620, about a third of adult men left wills. That dropped to 10% in the 18th century. For women, it was around 15–25% in the same periods.

Understanding these patterns can help us overcome genealogical “brick walls.” As President Russell M. Nelson taught: “While temple and family history work has the power to bless those beyond the veil, it has an equal power to bless the living. It has a refining influence on those who are engaged in it. They are literally helping to exalt their families.”