Marriage query - is this likely or do you think I have got it wrong

[Pinetree]

I would be interested in what others think about the likelihood of a groom marrying his mother’s half sister!  It seems very odd to me so maybe I have gone wrong somewhere.

The half sisters were 40 years apart in age, the older one being the father’s eldest child from his first marriage and the younger one was from his third marriage.  The weddings were 30 years apart 1808 and 1838.

Even so they must have been aware of the relationship so I am very dubious that I have the right people.

Pinetree

[CaroleW]

Hard to give an opinion without names/dates/ages  etc

[Milliepede]

Were all the parties alive at the time of the second marriage?  ie the first wife and the father of the half sisters?

[Pinetree]

Thank you both for your replies.

The father died in 1839 aged 80, the first wife had died long before either marriage.  The elder sister died in 1859.  I think she may be where I have gone wrong as obviously in 1808 details of her father were not included on her marriage entry.

I do have an instance in my tree, which is definitely correct, where a widow married her nephew by marriage but that was quite different as there was no direct blood relationship and she was too old to have children from the marriage. 

Pinetree

[J.R.Ellam]

Are they still living in the same area because I would think someone would know she was his aunt which would make it illegal.

[LizzieL]

The father died in 1839 aged 80, the first wife had died long before either marriage.  The elder sister died in 1859.   

Is this "elder sister" the groom's first wife? But you said the second marriage (possibly to her younger half sister) happened in 1838. So was there a divorce?

[Pinetree]

Sorry for the confusion Lizzie, I know it gets confusing without names but as this is a strange situation which I may well have wrong I didn’t feel comfortable including names.

Sequence on events:

1780 - father marries first wife

1781 - eldest daughter born (mother? of groom in 1838 marriage)

1795 - father’s first wife dies

1795 - father marries second wife and she dies in 1804

1806 - father marries third wife

1808 - eldest daughter marries

1817 - son of eldest daughter is born (groom in 1838 marriage)

1819 - half sister to eldest daughter is born (bride in 1838 marriage)

I really just wanted to know what others thought about this being a likely scenario, as it would have been illegal and I am sure frowned upon morally.

Thank you all for your interest.

Pinetree

[Andrew Tarr]

I would be interested in what others think about the likelihood of a groom marrying his mother’s half sister!  It seems very odd to me so maybe I have gone wrong somewhere.

I agree that it seems odd, but I know of a documented example in Liverpool in the early 19th-C, which I came across because a member of my tree married one of the descendants.  Try googling for George Barton Prior to learn the story.

Basically, the partners in a marriage had the same father but different mothers.  I thought that the Church's rules of consanguinity would have forbidden such a union, but perhaps the wording was open to various interpretations ....    IIRC one of the offspring had some mental problems.

[LizzieL]

Found George Barton Prior's marriage licence, it says Eliza was 25, so born about 1799 / 1800. before Richard Prior (George's father ) married Ann Brownbill. George died in 1835 but Eliza / Elizabeth (she uses both on censuses) outlived him by a number of years. She is consistent in age and birthplace, Born abt 1799/ 1800 at St Helens. Marriage record says she was from Prescot, which is near St Helens. There is a baptism for an Elizabeth Prior on 1st Dec 1799 in Prescot (born 23 Nov 1799), daughter of James (occupation agent), no mother recorded. This seems a much better candidate for Eliza, given her age and birthplace.