Uncle marrying his niece- 1899

[mr pinkwhistle]

Was it possible and legal for an uncle to marry his niece after his wife had died ? The reason I ask is that it has happened in my family tree. It was a niece by marriage on his first wifes side. Both marriages were performed in church .would it not have been frowned upon by the community ? I would be interested in any information with regards to the legal aspect of this marriage. Thankyou.

[stanmapstone]

See "Marrying your Uncle" http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,484935.0.html


Stan

[Lydart]

Looking at the thread you quote, Stan, I dont think it covers 'dead wife's neice' .... i.e. dead wife's brother or sisters child.    There would be no blood link, so as long as the wife was dead, surely it would be OK ??

[mr pinkwhistle]

Thank you for that!That clarifies it a lot better and quite interesting as  both aunt and niece were married in the same church eighteen years apart from each other.

[Alexander.]

Looking at the thread you quote, Stan, I dont think it covers 'dead wife's neice' .... i.e. dead wife's brother or sisters child.    There would be no blood link, so as long as the wife was dead, surely it would be OK ??

"Wife’s brother’s daughter" and "Wife’s sister’s daughter" are on Stan's list. I don't think it matters whether there was a blood link or not.

Alexander

[stanmapstone]

Thanks, I was just going to post that 
Stan

[GrahamSimons]

Not totally sure of attitudes to this specific situation, but I have found marriages of deceased wife's sister - which was forbidden in the Table of Kindred and Affinity until changed by Act of 1907, and these in churches where the truth would be known, so a blind eye was being turned. A possibility in this case too, I wonder?

[mr pinkwhistle]

Very interesting!I would not have known the link until I obtained all the relevant certificates to prove the case.It must have been accepted by the family as all were living around that area of Bolton,Lancashire at the time and would have known.They were full blood lines also.

[stanmapstone]

Not totally sure of attitudes to this specific situation, but I have found marriages of deceased wife's sister

These marriages were illegal, under Civil Law, from 1835 until the Marriage (Prohibited Degrees of Relationship) Acts, 1907 that is the Deceased Wife's Sister Marriage Act, 1907. However many couples ignored the law, and many clergy overlooked it. 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.

Stan