RootsChat.Com

POD comes about to much of official paperwork for Australians with the Quintex case and the late Christopher Skase.  late 1980s, into the 1990s...

I married in NSW in 1974, neither of us produced any formal official documents.  We were both known to the clergyman.   

I have just spoken with several of my elderly rellies ... yes, NO documents would have been needed to 'prove' she was a widow,  yes, the clergy would likely have spent some time talking with her privately about her status as a widow ... and likely she would have confirmed her previous marriage was conducted by a clergyman of the same denomination ... sometimes clergy may have written to each other, perhaps a letter introducing her when she moved to the district etc...

The paperwork required by NSW BDM for officiating at marriages in this century is 'huge' compared back as recently as 1990s .... it got cumbersome in the mid 1990s ...  Back in the 1960s/1970s many couples were marrying in the communities where they had been born/raised, and church attendance was still the norm, so people actually knew people, watched friendships develop into courtships, and were anticipating the marriage .... Even in large cities like Sydney,  before 'Sunday' trading was the economic 'norm'  people went to Church on Sundays.   So, turn back the clock to the 1880s, 1890s,  Amelia has most likely been interviewed by a clergyman in 1889 who may well have suggested that she needs to report her then husband as 'missing' and thus the Police Gazette entry... then when nothing eventuated, the clergyman may have decided that marriage was a preferred state to 'co-habitation' ....   

JM