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Thanks for the reply. Do you have world access or just UK & Ireland?

Thanks for the reply. I should have said I'd tried there for those dates because although all these places say they cover the parish for marriages at that time, in reality they don't (or rather they do but you can't search them properly).

I think I've solved it though - on Family Search, I found the digitised records for that period, which have been attributed to the non-existent parish of Clemenwastand  I admit the handwriting is bad but you'd think the transcriber would check the names of Norfolk parishes. This error appears to have been copied across several family history sites, which is frustrating but I've found the marriage I was looking for so all's well etc.

Edited to add that now I have all the details of the marriage, I can find it on Ancestry in the Norfolk, England, Transcripts of Church of England Baptism, Marriage and Burial Registers, 1600-1935, which I couldn't find before in there.

A slight variation 

Couple marry - 5 August 1850.  Wife sues for divorce - Petition filed - 27 November 1871

Decree Nisi - 31 January 1873
Final Decree - 5 August 1873

She remarries 16 October 1873 - Divorced woman
He remarries 20 July 1873 - Widower

So he told porkies to his new wife then? Where did you find the divorce records? I can't imagine my couple having a divorce because he was only a labourer (sometimes a shoemaker).

I have an ancestor who was widowed and then subsequently had 4 children, all with the father un-named. On their birth certificates, she is recorded as her married name but with no maiden name included. They were all born in the workhouse (she was a frequent visitor!) and when she was there during a census, she was categorised as unmarried. This also happened when she was working as a servant on a farm (presumably placed by the workhouse guardians). The first time she records herself in a census (1891) she categorises herself as a widow.

I'm interested in finding out if this was a common practice (England - 1870s/1880s) and/or if anyone else has come across this.

Also - has anyone come across this where the husband has disappeared so the woman is known to be apart from her husband but then has more children who aren't his. If you've seen examples of this where she's then labelled unmarried (while still legally being so) I'd love to know about them.