A question about my 4x great grandfather Jonas Smeeton and his wife Elizabeth Armes - on the face of it easy as very few Jonas Smeetons seem to be recorded in Leicester (basically him and his son). I think he is relatively easy to trace - he was baptised in Tilton on the Hill, Halstead 25 November 1787 ('Johah Bastard Child of Susannah Smeeton a Whore!' says the less than encouraging entry). I can find his marriage to Elizabeth Armes on 1 Jan 1811 in St Margaret, Leicester, and after that a series of births, including my 3x great grandfather Robert in Dec 1811.
Also easy is his location - he was a tailor, mostly in East Bond Street and appears in the 1822-1835 Pigot's Directory of Leicestershire, as well as other commercial directories (I have found entries in 1822, 1843, 1846 and 1849 on Ancestry). Similarly the 1841 and 1851 censuses show him at East Bond St as well, with Elizabeth and various children.
The problem is in the 1861 census, where he apparently disappears. I think I have found him in Billesdon District 2, where he is listed as James Smeeton, a lodger with John and Elizabeth Bent. This man is the right age, and a tailor born in Halstead, but the name is wrong. He is not listed as married or unmarried (left blank).
Similarly I think I have found Elizabeth Smeeton, boarding in Leicester All Saints District 31, but it is without Jonas and it says she is unmarried. Again the right age and birth place.
I have Jonas's death certificate for 31 Jan 1863 - he died in the Union Workhouse Billesdon. The certificate gives no information about his married state, or much else.
You can see Elizabeth Smeeton listed as a widow in the 1871 census, and I have her death certificate for 30 June 1872 in East Leicester, where she is listed as widow of Jonas Smeeton, tailor.
The question I have, is what happened in the 1861 census? I assume I have the right people, in which case the marriage looks like it has broken down? However later on in the 1870s documents Elizabeth is listed as the widow of Jonas. Maybe I have the wrong people in 1861, in which case can anyone do better than me in locating them? If they were divorced, are there ways of finding the record? Or are there conventions operating here that I don't know, as to how people end a marriage or not.
Any help or theories given are greatly received!