Hello Fran - several replies have mentioned the fact that there are no hard rules to follow. Women have been know to revert to their maiden name. or to use an adopted name if they lived with a man without marrying. I have seen examples of these. Then if you consider variations in spelling of surnames it simply multiplies the number of options that you have to test. I encountered a surprising case (my aunt) who married a Mr. Green who died. She then married another unrelated (as far as I can tell) Mr. Green. For the second marriage it appears in the GRO records as. John GREEN; Annie H. GREEN; Annie H. ATKINSON. Some years ago the subject was discussed on this List and someone (I believe it was Brian Pears) submitted the following: "If a woman remarried after her first husband passed away, she could use her married last name, or her maiden name, because it depends on which name she was using at the time - the law is that you marry under the name you are known by at the time. This is usually the first married name, but sometimes a woman will revert to her maiden name. Also, sometimes a woman may cohabit between the marriages with the woman assuming the surname of her partner. The indexes should include entries under the maiden surname and under previous married or assumed surnames, but this assumes that the Registrar was told - he could only record what he was told, and not everyone was honest or forthcoming." Charles Atkinson, Niagara Falls, Canada. At 06:16 PM 05/05/2013 +0100, you wrote: >Hi Folks >can someone tell me how you go about finding a womans second marriage? she >is divorced so would I search for her in her former married name which she >kept or her maiden name. >Cheers Fran