Author Topic: Bigamous Marriage or 1st Marriage Annulled??  (Read 1349 times)

Offline CJ

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Bigamous Marriage or 1st Marriage Annulled??
« on: Saturday 30 December 17 18:08 GMT (UK) »
Hi, I am looking for some assistance or advise if possible.

I am researching Lydia Prince b1854 Ludlow.  Her parents were Samuel and Louisa Prince (nee Child).  Lydia married Elijah Yapp (bc1835 Diddlebury, Shropshire. Son of Richard and Mary Yapp nee Howells).  They were married in Ludlow on 26 February 1877.  They are together in the 1881 census return living in Stanton Lacy, Shropshire.  This is the last time I can find them recorded together.  In all later census returns he is listed as living with his Mum and siblings as a married man (1891), siblings single man(1901) and finally as a widow in the workhouse in 1911.  He died in 1914.  However, Lydia married John Yates (bc1845 Ashby, Derbyshire) on 25 December 1890 in Dudley, Worcestershire, she is listed as being a single woman.  In 1891 they are listed as living in Durham, in 1901 living in West Bromwich and 1911 she is listed as a widow, living in Walsall, Staffordshire. 

How can I find if her first marriage was annulled? I cannot find any record of a divorce.

Any help gratefully received
 :o
Aaron, Bailey, Beckett, Blanchard, Bradley, Bromham, Brook, Butler, Carter, Clarkson, Cox, Crowther, Dewhirst, Dixon, Emmott, Fell, Field, Galleymore, Goddard, Harrison, Hayes, Hensby, Hillas, Hodgson, Hollings, Hutchinson, Jolly, Knowles, Lightowler, Mandeville, Marshall, Mitchell, Moulds, Murgatroyd, Oldfield, Panter, Parrott, Platt, Rawlings/Rawlins (and other spellings!), Richardson, Scott, Smith, Steele, Taylor, Tee, Thompson, Thornton, Thorp, Waterhouse, Watson, Wing, Woodend

Offline Guy Etchells

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Re: Bigamous Marriage or 1st Marriage Annulled??
« Reply #1 on: Saturday 30 December 17 19:43 GMT (UK) »
Hi, I am looking for some assistance or advise if possible.

I am researching Lydia Prince b1854 Ludlow.  Her parents were Samuel and Louisa Prince (nee Child).  Lydia married Elijah Yapp (bc1835 Diddlebury, Shropshire. Son of Richard and Mary Yapp nee Howells).  They were married in Ludlow on 26 February 1877.  They are together in the 1881 census return living in Stanton Lacy, Shropshire.  This is the last time I can find them recorded together.  In all later census returns he is listed as living with his Mum and siblings as a married man (1891), siblings single man(1901) and finally as a widow in the workhouse in 1911.  He died in 1914.  However, Lydia married John Yates (bc1845 Ashby, Derbyshire) on 25 December 1890 in Dudley, Worcestershire, she is listed as being a single woman.  In 1891 they are listed as living in Durham, in 1901 living in West Bromwich and 1911 she is listed as a widow, living in Walsall, Staffordshire. 

How can I find if her first marriage was annulled? I cannot find any record of a divorce.

Any help gratefully received
 :o
It is very likely their marriage was not annulled but looking at the dates you give Lydia may have been free to marry in 1890 depending on when she last knew Elijah to be alive. If it was more than seven years then she was free to marry without the marriage being bigamous.

See:- An Act to restrain all Persons from Marriage until their former Wives and former Husbands be dead [1604.]

“II. Provided always, That this Act, nor any Thing therein contained, shall extend to any Person or Persons whose Husband or Wife shall be continually remaining beyond the Seas by the Space of seven Years together, or whose Husband or Wife shall absent him or herself the one from the other by the Space of seven Years together, in any Parts within his Majesty’s Dominions, the one of them not knowing the other to be living within that Time.”

I would give you the url but because it is hosted on Ancestry it has been down since before Christmas. Though like many similar sites it can be seen on the Internet Archive
http://archive.org/web/web.php
by typing or pasting the url into the Wayback Machine search box
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com:80/~framland/acts/1604.htm

Cheers
Guy
http://anguline.co.uk/Framland/index.htm   The site that gives you facts not promises!
http://burial-inscriptions.co.uk Tombstones & Monumental Inscriptions.

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Offline CJ

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Re: Bigamous Marriage or 1st Marriage Annulled??
« Reply #2 on: Saturday 30 December 17 19:59 GMT (UK) »
Thank you Guy,

After your reply, I remembered that I had heard of the seven year rule when at school (Far From the Madding Crowd I think!) quite a few moons ago.  Would this still be the case if she was the one to have left the area?  He remained in the same area that she was born and brought up in and had numerous family members still living there.

Thanks CJ
Aaron, Bailey, Beckett, Blanchard, Bradley, Bromham, Brook, Butler, Carter, Clarkson, Cox, Crowther, Dewhirst, Dixon, Emmott, Fell, Field, Galleymore, Goddard, Harrison, Hayes, Hensby, Hillas, Hodgson, Hollings, Hutchinson, Jolly, Knowles, Lightowler, Mandeville, Marshall, Mitchell, Moulds, Murgatroyd, Oldfield, Panter, Parrott, Platt, Rawlings/Rawlins (and other spellings!), Richardson, Scott, Smith, Steele, Taylor, Tee, Thompson, Thornton, Thorp, Waterhouse, Watson, Wing, Woodend

Offline Guy Etchells

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Re: Bigamous Marriage or 1st Marriage Annulled??
« Reply #3 on: Sunday 31 December 17 08:56 GMT (UK) »
Thank you Guy,

After your reply, I remembered that I had heard of the seven year rule when at school (Far From the Madding Crowd I think!) quite a few moons ago.  Would this still be the case if she was the one to have left the area?  He remained in the same area that she was born and brought up in and had numerous family members still living there.

Thanks CJ


Yes, as long as he/she claimed he/she did not know if his/her spouse was alive during that time.
Cheers
Guy
http://anguline.co.uk/Framland/index.htm   The site that gives you facts not promises!
http://burial-inscriptions.co.uk Tombstones & Monumental Inscriptions.

As we have gained from the past, we owe the future a debt, which we pay by sharing today.