Widow
 

On a Facebook group to which I belong, we are discussing this:

"A Dictionary of Old Trades, Titles and Occupations" :
Widow: In the 1700s (widow) was used to indicate a woman living alone on private means. At that time it did not always indicate that the woman had been previously married . Old records such as Widow Jane Smith, Spinster can be confusing"

Family historians, beware of assuming that widows were previously married.

In a similar vein, the first time I came across "Mrs" as a courtesy title was for the marriage of my ancestors Mrs Sarah Williams and Mr James Barker in 1690. Sarah was a minor and her father was the Rev. John Williams, personal chaplain to King William and Queen Mary and later Bishop of Chichester.

Are they using that quotation as an indication of marital state?

Spinster could equally mean someone earning a living from spinning.

Certainly Mistress is status, rather than marital state.

Thanks for this. I had not heard of widow being used as anything other than a woman whose husband had died. I have had the Mrs thing confuse me in the past but someone on here kindly set me straight.