1895, 1900, 1903 Queensland Electoral Rolls Look up Please!

[rebelsher]

Thank you, Mary-Ellen. I appreciate your taking your time to research this for me.

Can you tell me if common-law marriage was an acceptable practice back then in Australia?

I don't believe Robert James Wright and Mary Johns Angwin were married, but she's using his last name. I haven't been able to find a marriage record for them. Makes me wonder since she married someone else later on and I don't believe there's a divorce record.

              Sherry H.

[kellykid]

Hi Sherry

Common-law marriage did happen back then in Australia. There are a number of reasons that may be possibilities:
Robert was older than Mary and was around 31 when he came to Australia if your 1880 is correct.
Robert may have been married previously and may have been estranged from his wife and therefore unable to remarry unless he divorced or his 1st wife predeceased him.
Robert may have come to Australia ahead of his family with plans for them to follow which did not eventuate.
Common-law marriages also existed where the couple were from different religious backgrounds.
Divorce was uncommon and not really an option for Irish Catholics - not sure whether either party was Catholic but it may be a consideration.
Many couples, particularly where children resulted from the union, lived as husband and wife and the woman took the name of the man to avoid the scrutiny and scorn of the community.
I have a number of these unions in my tree. Some couples never married and several married after the first spouse died.
I hope that helps.
Mary-Ellen

[rebelsher]

Hi Mary-Ellen, thank you. I don't believe either were Irish Catholic, although I don't know that for sure. They were abt 13 years different in age. Robert James Wright Sr. born c. 1849 and Mary Johns Angwin c. 1862.

As far as I know Robert did not have a family before migrating to Australia. I haven't found his immigration so I don't know that for certain.

The only child between the two was Robert James Jr. born 1880. The last name on his birth certificate is Angwin, but he used Wright as an adult. I'm pretty sure he was illegitimate.

I believe they lived together for over 20 years and were not married. So strange that after all that time together, Mary Johns married, as a 50 year old woman, to someone else and Sr. wasn't dead.

Maybe she stayed with him to raise her son and give him a father and then left when he was grown. Although the marriage didn't occur until Jr. was 32!!

             Sherry H.