I think my G-Grandfather married his cousin... Henry Palin & Elizabeth Thomas

[Chris Koons]

The Palins are causing scandal again! Lol I think my G-Grandfather Henry Palin May have married his cousin. Can somebody help me to confirm or disprove this?

Here’s what I have:

Henry Palin b. 9 Aug 1859 Middlewich, Cheshire
m
Elizabeth Thomas b. Sept 1874 Middlewich, Cheshire
27 Dec 1896

It was Henry’s 2nd marriage, as his 1st wife, Eliza, died in 1895.

Henry was the illegitimate son of Sarah Palin (b.1843). As far as I tell, she never officially revealed the fathers name. I have a copy of his birth certificate.
Sarah’s parents were William Palin & Margaret Arkinstall. Sarah left him there to be raised by his grandparents while she went off to get married & have another more respectable family.

Elizabeth was the daughter of John Thomas (b.1841) & Mary Palin (b.abt 1848). Mary, it seems, was Sarah’s younger sister...

Thanks again for all your help untangling these Palins!

[avm228]

Will have a look, but it wouldn’t be scandalous if true.  It was (and is) perfectly lawful in England to marry a first cousin.

[DCB]

Both Sarah and Mary gave their father as William Palin. Sarah gave no occupation for him but Mary gave 'Salt Boiler' which is what their father was in 1871.

One of my wife's relatives also married a first cousin, which was not uncommon in those days.

David

[stanmapstone]

In 1540 parliament legalised marriages between first cousins to clear the way for the marriage of Henry VIII to Catherine Howard, although nowhere did the Bible indicate that cousin marriage was undesirable. This subject has come up many times on RootsChat, and there are many posts, just put "cousins marrying" in Search.

Stan

[Taylor94]

I find that cousins marrying each other to be more common in rural areas where not a lot of people leave and not a lot of new people come in.
My grt grt grandparents were 2nd cousins to each other and the same grt grt grandmother's parents were also 2nd cousins to each other.

[Chris Koons]

Thanks again! Verification accepted.

Honestly, thinking about it, I’m kind of surprised I haven’t found more close connections, given that I keep seeing Sants & Palins marrying, they keep appearing as neighbours on the same census pages & the Middlewich, Clive Green, Wimboldsley, Occlestone Green & Minshull Vernon areas were & are still small villages (with the exception of Middlewich which is now a decent sized town) not far from each other. I can see how the people in these small towns & villages could easily be related to each other.

Onward & upward... up the tree, that is! 😁