marrying dead partners relatives.

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Hi all

Just wondering how common it was in the 1860s to 1880s for the living partner to remarry their dead partners brother or sister.

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[Shropshire Lass]

I've got a few examples of this - particularly of widowers marrying their dead wives' sisters.  Children had to be cared for and men had to go out to work.  I think in many cases it may have been a very practical solution.  The man would have known the sister well, the chidren would have been familiar with her and the grandparents would have kept their contact with the children.  Seems a good solution all round.

Monica

[stanmapstone]

I assume you know that these marriages were illegal from 1835 until the Marriage (Prohibited Degrees of Relationship) Acts, 1907 and 1921, that is the Deceased Wife's Sister Marriage Act, 1907 and the Deceased Brother's Widow's Marriage Act, 1921. However many couples ignored the law, and many clergy overlooked it.
One difficulty is how would the person carring out the wedding know that the proposed marriage partner was the deceased wife's sister, or the deceased brother's widow?

Stan

[cookie]

Thanks for that Monica.

I was thinking along those lines but thought id ask to be sure.

Thanks

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[stanmapstone]

In fact there were petitions from clergymen who implored that a Bill might be passed, since many of their parishioners had already married their sisters-in-law, under the belief that this was the best thing for the children, and of course it was the best thing for the children. However as late as 1949 a Marriage Act was passed that, among other provisions, prohibited marriage between a man and his divorced wife's sister.

Stan

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Hi Stan

I hope that this isnt going to confuse anyone when they look at my tree.

I have a few of these marriages in the various families im researching.

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[cookie]

Wow, you have a mind of infomation there Stan.

Thanks

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[Subaru]

That's really interesting Stan. 

My husband's gr grandmother married his gr grandfather after his wife (her sister) died.  She died in 1905, Kathleen came over from Ireland especially to help him with the three children they had.  They married in 1907, and had three more children.  He was killed during training in WW1 in 1915.  Poor Katherine had to bring up all the children single-handedly, and never re-married.

That's the first time I've heard of those restrictions on marriage.

Rosemary