Genealogy Chat

Thanks Judith. Well my ggg gf definitely wasn't transported, he was living in a pub with two of his children in 1851. My ggg gm was married to someone else about 13 years her junior and had the other two children with her. Very strange. Julia

Just realised there is one other possibility Julia - if the husband was 'missing' for at least seven years and the wife could declare that she had searched and found no evidence of his being alive then the second marriage wouldn't be bigamous , and if he had been transported for life she didn't even have to prove she'd searched for him. My gt gt grandmother remarried after her first husband was transported - though not sure how legal hers was, as she just claimed to be a widow rather than declaring the facts, and a few years later sent her two sons out to join their father (who'd been granted a free pardon) in New South Wales.

Thanks for the information, Judith. I shall just assume that ggg grandmother lied so she could remarry. Thanks for your help Julia

If this was in England before 1857 , freedom to remarry could only be obtained by an Act of Parliament following a separation decree given by a church court on the basis of adultery or abandonment . Very few 'ordinary' people would have gone through this process and it is much more likely that they just separated, went their separate ways, and if needs be lied about being single or widowed in order to remarry.

I am sure my ggg grandfather and grandmother went their seperate ways in the 1840's and she remarried. How would I find out if they divorced, please? Julia