Newspaper Obituaries query

montgo

When looking thru' a number of lengthy early 1900s obituaries lately, I have noticed some close family members missing? I assumed that if they did not attend the funeral for whatever reason, they were not listed. But someone tells me that is not so. However, Priests, nuns were often mentioned whether present or not. Generally, family members who had immigrated were not listed (even an only son gets no mention). One of the obit did not include a brother (known to be in Ireland at the time), 2 sisters (both nuns in Ireland but they might not have been allowed to attend).

Any obit experts about - any obserations?

KildareFan

I find the newspaper accounts of funerals can be helpful when they list those who were in attendance.

However, they often get things wrong, including spelling of names and relationships. It depends on who writes the obituaries - not everyone is in full possession of the facts, and there may be a bit of guesswork involved on the part of the writer.

Like every other bit of 'evidence' you need to cross check for accuracy.

montgo

Yes, I agree that the obituaries are super and can be a great help. Often there have been lots of "relatives" listed that I never heard of which leads to more research.

On a young mother's obit, her 5 children have not been mentioned. I just wondered if this was common practice.

KildareFan

Yes - I have a relative who died young in the 1930s and the newspaper didn't mention her children. In the 19th century children didn't seem to count until they grew up. So many of them never reached adulthood. That's why the 1911 census question about how many children were in the marriage and how many survived produces such good information.

The newspaper reports are great for giving the surname of married female relations - I love it when they list 'Mrs Murphy, Mrs Smith, and Mrs Kelly (sisters) or (aunts) - another clue to follow up. Reporters can misspell the name (McDonnell, instead of McDaniel) so keep checking.