Widow/Widowers time period before remarrying in the 1700s

[Pennie]

This one always stood out in my family tree ...

Couple married in 1736.  Husband was buried on 02 APR 1744 with the following note in the burial register:  "Killed by his waggon running over him".

His widow remarried on 18 APR 1744 with this comment in the marriage register:  "Elis. Bates buryed her husband that was killed by his own waggon running over him near Burchester Apr. 2, but 15 days before she marryed G. Woods".

Pennie

[ThrelfallYorky]

I've found several instances of very quick re-marriages after bereavement, usually the families involved were not well-off and practicalities of child care and financial need seem very likely.
I've one woman who "married" three times, each time within weeks of the previous husband's death, with an increasing tribe of children changing surnames each time - but in one case I simply can't find an actual record of / date for the marriage, but the husband died shortly before census time - and by census time, she and her children were ensconced as "wife" with children all re-surnamed!
A woman with no extended family network for childcare would be in penury if widowed with very young children - and in a time when so many women died in childbirth, a widower could often find the most practical solution to an infant survivor was a swift re- marriage.
Often the partners seem to have known each other and their families as neighbours at least, living close at hand, before the events, too. Many practical problems would be solved that way.

[coombs]

If a spouse was incapacitated for a while, ie a long illness or institutionalised then the husband or wife met someone else and when their first spouse died they were free to remarry. Maybe they married someone they knew at work, a neighbours, friend, nurse etc, explaining a quick remarriage.

[bykerlads]

Judging by my ancestors, it was most definitely a matter of financial and practical expediency that the newly-widowed remarried often very quickly.
A widower would need a 24/7 housekeeper/nanny for his family (local morality and lack of money would mean that getting a paid woman in to help would be out of the question)
A widow would not be able to do a paid job outside the home because of her children, could not (for reasons of respectability) just work as live-in help in the house of a single man - in any case, working class houses would not have had enough bedrooms to accommodate such an arrangement!
Marriage ensured respectability, financial support and domestic services for all concerned.
Romance, sentimentality etc would have no place in the struggle to ensure the survival of bereaved families. Maybe love and respect blossomed later but harsh pragmatism, fortunately, dominated the lives of our ancestors and their domestic arrangements.

[ThrelfallYorky]

Sounds harsh, and certainly not romantic - but probably very true.

[clairec666]

I've found lots of relatives (both male and female) who remarried between a year and 5 years after their spouse died.... I'm talking about the 1850s-1900s. Makes me wonder how they survived in the time before they remarried?

[sillgen]

Occasionally things seemed quicker in the early 1700s than they actually were because of the old style calendar at that time which has often been altered in transcripts to make it look as if the year went from January to December when it didn't!  Originally it was from March 25th.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calendar_(New_Style)_Act_1750

[coombs]

My ancestors brother had a wife who died in April 1845 and he had his banns read for his next wife in June 1845 and they wed on 14th July 1845. I think she was a neighbour. The second wife was the sister of my ancestor. So 2 brothers wed 2 sisters.

[LizzieL]

Going back to the query about which Thomas married which Ann. Have you looked into Ann Towells to see whether she was the right sort of age to marry Thomas jnr? I can't find an Ann Towells baptised in Curry Rivel, but there is one in Ilton about 6 miles away.
Ann Towels bapt 19 Jan 1718/19 d/o Edward and Mary.
A Mary Burt of Isle Abbotts married Edward Towels of Curry Rivel at Ilton on 17 April 1718. Looks like the couple also had a son Edward after Ann, but he died not long after baptism.
A Mary Towel (widow) was buried in Curry Rivel on 5 Nov 1769. I can't see a burial for an Edward Towel(ls) at Ilton or Curry Rivel, but there is an Edward Powell buried at CR on 31 Dec 1749. These are transcriptions on FreeBMD, so I haven't seen original record.

Added
meant FreeREG