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things are becoming clearer now i'll get in touch with the GR member now cheers Janey fairly new to this but really addictive

Births Mar 1891
Penny Ethel Ludlow 6a 565

A GR member has her in their tree (dob 1890).

If the 1923 marriage was bigamous and *if* it came to the attention of the authorities -- there was a conviction -- then the GRO would refuse to issue a certificate (which would be proof of something that didn't happen, since a bigamous marriage isn't a marriage).

Most bigamous marriages went undetected. But if you couldn't get a certificate, that would be your answer!

If you got the Booth-Penny marriage cert as well (details are at FreeBMD), then you'd have more info about Charles Booth to see whether a death or remarriage could be found for him.

yes Janey we were all wondering the same thing too

cheers guys thanks for your help Steve

The reason I couldn't come to a conclusion was that I couldn't find a death for her husband Charles H Booth -- either in WWI or in the deaths index. (Although there is a CH Booth who died 1918, Manchester Regiment, for whom there is no info. Melba was born 1918.)

I wonder whether the 1923 marriage was bigamous. Those things did happen.

That's what I thought. ;) I've been tracking Ethel Penny around but wasn't able to come to a conclusion.

So ... you knew these things already and you didn't bother mentioning them. That ain't how it's done, you know. You don't make us go searching for info that you already have!

yes Ethel was married before her maiden name i think was Penny she had a daughter called Melba

I would order both the marriage certificates:

Name: Sidney Gough
Spouse Surname: Freshwater
Date of Registration: Apr-May-Jun 1936
Registration district: Epping
Registration county (inferred): Essex
Volume Number: 4a
Page Number: 1160

Name: Sidney Gough
Spouse Surname: Booth
Date of Registration: Apr-May-Jun 1923
Registration district: Ludlow
Registration county (inferred): Shropshire
Volume Number: 6a
Page Number: 1329

You'll be able to confirm then whether the 1923 marriage was your Sidney, and also whether Ethel Booth had been previously married and so whether they had any children. (If they had children, her birth surname would be on the birth records, rather than Booth.)

You order them here and they just take a few days:

http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/

The 1936 marriage certificate would say if there had been a previous divorce (as long as Sidney reported it when he remarried).

I don't see an obvious remarriage or death for Ethel (no middle initial) Gough (in Shropshire).

Mike, what I said was: "it should be at FreeBMD"
and in any event the information was already in the thread.

thanks janey i've been speaking to a cousin of my dads that i met through Genes. & his dad remembers sid moving to Essex but never heard from him again & cant remember if he got divorced.

Yes Janey but you gave the impression is was not on freebmd.

There's no record of a divorce at
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/
but the records aren't complete.

yes he did remarry to my nan winifred freshwater in1936 my dad was born 1938. we are only just finding out about his life before he came up to essex & been great reading we would like to go down to Ludlow in the spring & find places to visit that have links ..Steve

Mike, I posted that already.

From freebmd

Marriages Jun 1923 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Booth Ethel - Gough - Ludlow 6a 1329
Gough Sidney - Booth - Ludlow 6a 1329

The 1923 marriage is to Ethel Booth. I took that from Ancestry, but it should be at FreeBMD (which doesn't cover later years yet):

http://freebmd.rootsweb.com/cgi/search.pl

Did he marry in 1936 in Epping? (edit - I mistyped "1926" at first)

Thanks Cathy this is my grandfather i managed to trace him on 1911 census he was living in Ludlow in the 1920's but moved up to essex in mid 30's we believe he was married & divorced before he came to Essex..what is the best website to get this info cheers Steve

EDIT.
Cathy you editted your 1911 find, thus rendering my comment invalid.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

But Steve said born April 1895 so This must be the right one

Births Jun 1895
Gough Sidney - Ludlow 6a 557

If this is his marriage (or whenever his marriage was, in any case)

Name: Sidney Gough
Spouse Surname: Booth
Date of Registration: Apr-May-Jun 1923
Registration district: Ludlow
Registration county (inferred): Shropshire
Volume Number: 6a
Page Number: 1329

would the address when he married help? You're looking for an address after marriage? Was there a child born around that time (an address on the birth certificate)?

No apparent children to that marriage -- there are Gough-Booth births in Lancashire 1920-22, and then elsewhere after 1929. If that is your Sidney, had his wife maybe been married before?