Common Law Marriage

[Penmaiden]

I'm finding that it can be hard to track those who were unofficially married.

Marianne Emily Gill b. 1828 Oxford married Edwin Frederick Unwin in 1853. By 1861 she seems to be living with her mother. In 1871 she is living with a new "husband" George H Edwards b. 1845 in Middlesex.  Edwin Unwin lived until 1878 and I've found no record of a marriage with George. On the 1881 census she claimed to be widowed, and when she died in 1882 it was registered under the name "Marianne Edwards".
George's occupation was given as "living from dividends".

There was a George Hay Edwards born about 1845 in Middlesex who was a civil engineer. He was living with his parents 1861, 1871 is unclear. At some point he emigrated to Australia and he married Isabella Bayne in Melbourne in 1877. He died 1918.

This could in theory be the same person, but I can't figure out how to prove or disprove it.

[arthurk]

There are a few things you could do to find out more about the situation:

Death certificates for Edwin and Marianne - who registered the deaths, and how were they described?

Wills - I see that Edwin left a will, but it was an "Administration (with the Will)" rather than a probate, in 1879. This was granted to his mother, the residuary legatee. Get a copy of that to see if or how he mentions Marianne; and the circumstances that led to it being an administration rather than a probate might also be illuminating. There was an administration for Marianne Emily Edwards, widow, in 1883, granted to Edwin Thomas Unwin, the son and one of the next of kin; any documents that you ordered probably wouldn't tell you any more, but the wording in the index seems to indicate that she wasn't married to George ('widow', and a husband would have been the next of kin), and that she and Edwin had more than one child.

Finally, on George, did he and Marianne have any children? And please could you clarify your references to the 1871 census:

Marianne Emily Gill b. 1828 Oxford married Edwin Frederick Unwin in 1853. By 1861 she seems to be living with her mother. In 1871 she is living with a new "husband" George H Edwards b. 1845 in Middlesex....

There was a George Hay Edwards born about 1845 in Middlesex who was a civil engineer. He was living with his parents 1861, 1871 is unclear.

What is 'unclear' about George in 1871? Is there a George living with the same parents as in 1861, so presumably not the same George as the one with Marianne? Or might he have been listed twice?

Added: to make things easier for anyone who wants to look at censuses, please could you give the references?

[Douglas P]

You've possibly seen these relating to the background of George Hay Edwards,

Marriage of George Hay Edwards & Charlotte Bartlett, OND 1841, Islington
Birth of Charlotte Edwards, mms Bartlett, OND 1842, Islington
Birth of George Hay Edwards, mms Bartlett, AMJ 1845, Islington
Birth of Frederick Edwards, mms Bartlett, AMJ 1847, Islington
Birth of John Henry Edwards, mms Bartlett, JAS 1852, Islington

Marriage of Frederick EDWARDS & Ellen Mary Theresa FOWLER, 1873, Victoria, Australia
www.bdm.vic.gov.au/research-and-family-history/search-your-family-history

"EDWARDS—FOWLER.—On the 3rd May, 1873, at the Presbyterian Church, Richmond, by the Rev. John Bagley, Frederick second son of George Hay Edwards, Esq., M. I. C. E., Stoke Newington, England, to Ellen, only daughter of Mr Henry Fowler, Kyneton, Victoria. London papers please copy."
The Kyneton Observer (Victoria), 19 Jan 1878
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/240928266

Marriage of George Hay EDWARDS & Isabella BAYNE, 1877, Victoria, Australia

Death of George Hay Edwards, 13 Sep 1918, at 3 Byron Street, Hobart
https://libraries.tas.gov.au/Record/NamesIndex/2011822
Will
https://libraries.tas.gov.au/Digital/AD960-1-40/AD960-1-40-12188_1

"DEATHS.
EDWARDS.—On September 17, 1918, at his late residence, No. 2 Byron-street, George Hay, husband of Bessy Edwards, aged 72 years.
...
FUNERAL NOTICES.
EDWARDS.—Funeral of the late George Hay Edwards of No. 2 Byron-street, Sandy Bay, will arrive at Queenborough Cemetery on Saturday (This Day), at 2.45 p.m."
The Mercury (Hobart, Tasmania), 14 Sep 1918
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/11409252?searchTerm=Edwards

Death of BESSIE A EDWARDS, 1924, father (-HIGGINS), mother MARY, district NORTH SYDNEY
https://familyhistory.bdm.nsw.gov.au

"EDWARDS.—On June 5, 1924, at Alpine Flats, William-street, North Sydney, Bessie Alice, widow of the late George Hay Edwards, C.E., Hobart."
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/23742543?searchTerm=Edwards

"HAY-EDWARDS.—On June 5, at Sydney Bessie A., relict of the late George Hay-Edwards consulting civil engineer, Hobart."
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/37635803?searchTerm=Edwards

Bessie A Edwards, died 5 Jun 1924, buried Macquarie Park Cemetery & Crematorium, Ryde, NSW
www.findagrave.com/memorial/145306723/bessie-a-edwards
https://austcemindex.com/inscription?id=3510460