Bigamous marriages

[Little Nell]

Sorry, I'm still not understanding what you mean.  How do you know the man was (still) married when he married your great grandmother?

If a marriage is bigamous, then surely you need to look for a previous marriage and prove that the first wife was still alive at the time of the marriage your great grandmother.  James O'Connor is not that uncommon a name and you might have to look at a few marriages to find your proof - or not.

Nell

[1pds]

Hi, in the year in question there is only one James o'Connor marrying someone with the same name as my g g mother. There is only one person with the same name as my g g mother marrying a James o'Connor.  So I assume they are the people I'm researching. Living family testimony says this marriage was declared bigamous. My question is are there any records I can access that show this marriage as being annulled?

[aghadowey]

Your latest post is explaining things rather differently than previous posts.

The marriage you found in FreeBMD for James O'Connor and your great-grandmother is in the index but was later declared invalid?

[Little Nell]

I think if the marriage to your great grandmother was bigamous, it wouldn't be valid, so could not be anulled. Your great grandmother would not be considered as his wife.

So I assume they are the people I'm researching.

If the name of your great grandmother is sufficiently unusual, that is a reasonable assumption, but not proof.  Assumptions can be dangerous.

Nell

[1pds]

Hi Nell, the only way I know he was still married is due to family testimony. I'm hoping that I'll get someone on RootsChat who can tell me how to confirm this...

[Little Nell]

If he wasn't caught and punished by the courts, then there will be no official record to say that the marriage was bigamous.  You have to find that alleged first marriage and no death of the first wife.

Nell

Added: of course he may not have been 'married' to the first 'wife', in which case the marriage to your great grandmother was not bigamous.  It would have been his first marriage. 

[1pds]

Thanks Little Nell. So if there was no valid marriage to annul, there would be no record of annullmemt...

[aghadowey]

Exactly, and no divorce either.

[1pds]

If I wanted to check out a possible prosecution for bigamy in the 1920s,  where would I start looking?