A Question About Bigamy

[wivenhoe]

"Later in 1911 wife 1 begins divorce proceedings having heard from his step siblings that he is using a different name (the name he is using in 1901 and 1911) and living with another woman."

What grounds for divorce.....desertion?...or adultery?


The "other woman"......what is her marital status....single?....married?  (apart from what the census might suggest)

Was she married, husband alive....and by 1938 he is dead and she is free to marry legally....in spite of the earlier events?.

[antonymark]

If the marriage was officially annulled through the courts because it was bigamous then I'd expect to see a record of it.

Annullments are in the same series as divorces at TNA  (J77) ....and available  on Ancestry to 1918.

Thanks again AntonyMMM,

I'll see what I can find on Ancestry and TNA.

Tony.

[antonymark]

"Later in 1911 wife 1 begins divorce proceedings having heard from his step siblings that he is using a different name (the name he is using in 1901 and 1911) and living with another woman."

What grounds for divorce.....desertion?...or adultery?


The "other woman"......what is her marital status....single?....married?  (apart from what the census might suggest)

Was she married, husband alive....and by 1938 he is dead and she is free to marry legally....in spite of the earlier events?.

The grounds were: "Adultery coupled with desertion of the petitioner for two years + upwards without reasonable excuse."

Wife 2 is down as spinster on the 1897 certificate.

Thank you Wivenhoe for raising the thought that this "other woman" may have had her own skeleton in a cupboard. I had not considered this. I'll see if I can work her backwards and find her in 1891, then cast my eye over any interesting marriages.

Tony.

[antonymark]

AnthonyMark

No additional annotation on EITHER of the quarterly return marriages sent to Dublin per the above pdf's and both indexed under those names on GRONI (equivalent to Local GRO copy in England, each marriage indexed from one of the pair of original bound church marriage ledger copies, one sent & retained in the Registration District when filled & stored with the original local birth & death ledgers) as that was all the North had after Irish Partition 1922.

Thank you Jon_ni for sharing this very interesting case. I'm going to make some more coffee and read through again following all the links.

Tony.

[antonymark]

The 1938 certificate has arrived. It is definitely the same couple as the 1897 marriage. This is the wording (with names altered for the privacy of still living relatives):

Marriage solemnized at the Register Office, Sometown
When Married: Twenty Fifth August 1938
Name and Surname: Guy Henderson, previously known as John Harold Barker
Age: 68 years
Condition: The divorced husband of Margaret Barker, formerly Green, widow
Rank or Profession: Coal Miner
Residence at the time of Marriage:80 Acacia Avenue, Sometown
Father's Name and Surname: marked with a dash
Rank or Profession of Father: marked with a dash
Name and Surname: Mary Ann Talbot, otherwise Henderson
Age: 65 years
Condition: Spinster
Rank or Profession: marked with a dash
Residence at the time of marriage: 80 Acacia Avenue, Sometown
Father's Name and Surname: George Thomas Talbot
Rank or Profession of Father: Farm Labourer

The 1897 marriage:

Marriage solemnized at the Register Office, Anothertown
When Married: Ninth June 1897
Name and Surname: John Harold Barker
Age: 28 years
Condition: Bachelor
Rank or Profession: Gunner RMA
Residence at the time of Marriage: West Barracks, Anothertown
Father's Name and Surname: John Barker (deceased)
Rank or Profession of Father: Civil Engineer
Name and Surname: Mary Ann Talbot
Age: 25 years
Condition: Spinster
Rank or Profession: marked with a dash
Residence at the time of Marriage: Dockside Road, Anothertown
Father's Name and Surname: Thomas Talbot
Rank or Profession of Father: Farm Bailiff

I was able to follow 'Mary Ann Talbot' back and I couldn't find a previous marriage for her. Her father is 'George Thomas Talbot' but he does use 'Thomas Talbot' on some census entries.

I've found nothing so far in newspapers, Marriage & Divorce on Ancestry or in the J77 series at TNA to indicate that the 1897 marriage ever came to light.

I'm thinking at the moment that our man knew that wife 1 had divorced him but possibly he was not aware of her death in 1937. Otherwise why not give "Widower" as his condition? Why did he not give details of his father on the 1938 marriage? I think his father's details on the 1897 one were fudged and his actual father is an 'Edward Barker', lead miner. He did have a stepfather 'John Smith'.

Such a tangle! Thanks for reading.

Tony.

[antonymark]

Hi again,

I'm still plodding away at this! Any thoughts or opinions most welcome.

The 1938 marriage certificate has my man as a 68 year old coal miner and he is on the 1939 register as a coal hewer below ground. So, still a working man. As far as I can see the state pension age for a man at this time was 65.

Could the reason for this later (legal) marriage and the revealing of his previous name be connected to claiming a pension?

Tony. 

[antonymark]

One more thing if I may,

The witnesses on the 1938 marriage are not relatives or near neighbours.

They have quite distinctive names and were found on the 1939 register.

One is a "Clerk in Public Assistant Office" and the other a "Local Government Officer". Unlikely friends of a coal miner?

Should I consider this as significant?

Tony.

[MollyC]

I remember someone recounting a registry office marriage when the couple had brought no witnesses with them. The registrar said he could not spare any more time that day from his own staff to act as witnesses - apparently they were often used.  He told the couple to go out and find two people off the street who were willing to act as witnesses.  So your witnesses could be anyone who happened to be nearby.  Registrar's staff would be local government officers.

[antonymark]

Thank you MollyC,

I suspect this 1938 marriage was on the quiet without family attending.

Tony.