Multiple Spouses on Ancestry

Cyrus T Buford · 19-08-2019 5:55pm #1

This is driving me bonkers!!

Is there any way to somehow change the order/location of spouses of a person on Ancestry?

On a particular person in my tree who was married 3 times (divorced twice), I have added marriage dates for three spouses and a divorce date for the first two spouses. They appear in no logical order on my tree whatsoever. The man has children with the 3 wives and even these don't appear in order of birth.

The first wife is to the right of the man, the 2nd wife is to the left of the man and the third and un-divorced wife is to the left of the 2nd wife...even though he was with this wife until death.

There is another case on my tree where a woman married twice (her first husband died after the birth of their 3rd child and she remarried). The first husband is to the right and the 2nd husband is to the left. This results in the children of the 2nd husband appearing to the left of the older 3 siblings from the first marriage.

Does anyone else have this problem or I am I doing something wrong?!!

pinkypinky · 19-08-2019 7:12pm

I've only ever seen them do it with the common spouse in the middle. Maybe look at some Mormon trees where there'll be a lot of wives!

When I use my own software, I put them in a line with, say, the husband on the left and then the multiple wives in a chronological order to his right with any children under each wife.

Hermy · 19-08-2019 7:29pm

I think that's just the way it's done on Ancestry.

It all depends from which persons perspective you are viewing the tree.

Do you have the same issue when viewing each individuals profile?

Cyrus T Buford · 19-08-2019 7:35pm

pinkypinky wrote: »

I've only ever seen them do it with the common spouse in the middle. Maybe look at some Mormon trees where there'll be a lot of wives!

When I use my own software, I put them in a line with, say, the husband on the left and then the multiple wives in a chronological order to his right with any children under each wife.

Ill be sure to check out some of the Mormon trees !!!!!

I just added a number of fake wives to single man on my tree to see if it has something to do with the order I add them to my tree. It seems to help to an extent if you add the first wife first and so on, but as you said, the common spouse always seems to end up in the middle!!

Cyrus T Buford · 19-08-2019 7:39pm

Hermy wrote: »

I think that's just the way it's done on Ancestry.

It all depends from which persons perspective you are viewing the tree.

Do you have the same issue when viewing each individuals profile?

The way it appears as I described above is when I am viewing the tree from the common spouse, his parents, his grandparents, aunts, uncles and siblings.

It only changes around if I would be viewing the tree from one of his wives children/grandchildren.

I guess your right, that's the way its done on Ancestry and ill just have to deal with it!!!

L1011 · 19-08-2019 7:51pm

My great grandfather had 3 wives (death, death, still alive - 100+ years after the first died); and a aunt had three husbands (death, divorce, still married)

Ancestry's display engine basically craps itself on them which I find very odd with the conpanies Mormon origins!

Hermy · 19-08-2019 8:17pm

Would it have something to do with Ancestry keeping husbands to the left and wives to the right?

Multiple Spouses on Ancestry

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