length of time between death of husband and remarriage, early 18th century

[pinefamily]

It is not necessarily Lydia who may have had small children. Was her second husband a widower or bachelor? He may have had children himself, and needed someone to help care for them.

[coombs]

I agree with bikerlads post. He summed it up. Times were hard in those days and people took any offer of marriage they could get. Often it was someone they knew, and sometimes even just a random stranger who was widowed and in urgent need of a new spouse. Marriage of convenience.

[Heath Clayton]

I am willing to believe anything after discovering the truth of my 2 x Gt. Grandfather. On the certificate of his second marriage (dated 23 June 1873) he states he is a widower, yet on the death cert. of his first wife (dated 16 Nov 1873) he is named as her husband!

[genjan1953]

There is another possible reason for remarrying so soon after the death of a spouse.  We cannot assume that all married couples lived together until one of them died.  Certainly I know of more than one incidence where a married couple were separated and one or both of them were living with other partners.  Divorce was much rarer, and often more difficult, in the past than it is today. Thus when the spouse died the surviving partner was able to marry the person he or she was living with ~ this could be quite soon after the death of their spouse in order to legitimise their 'new' relationship.
Janet