Aww
Thank you so much for all this, I have tried looking on that lineone site that you were on and couldn't find it, have been trying to find my way round it for months...
How sad
, yes this is the lady I was looking for. Her maiden name was Mary Ann Hetty. They were married in 1879 when she was 21, not sure what year they went to Malta, but they had 4 children whilst they were there, oh I just noticed, 3 of those were born after Mary's death?? Obviously his 2nd wife (Mary Francis Barber) and his children. I'm confused now. What happened to the other children she left behind?? I'm taking this info off the 1901 census, maybe the other children stayed in Malta?
i was aware that there was a law about marrying deceased spouses siblings, but thought this was mainly aimed against women. He and Mary Francis were married Dec 1888 in Valletta, she died during childbirth with multiple convulsions in 1902 then he marreid her sister in 1903. So he didn't leave much time inbetween any of the deaths. He then died in 1904, so I'm thinking he needed a mother for his young children. His youngest being born 1899. I haven't found anything yet to say wether the child survived after Mary Francis died.
Sorry about the essay