Bigamous marriage Samual Keenan/Oldfield and court records 1936

[JewlzKeenan]

Hello
This is my first attempt at this so bear with me please and excuse me if there are any problems with my posting
I am trying to find relatives of my paternal grandfather Samuel Keenan born approximately 1880.
He married my grandmother Ida Estelle Oldfield in the last quarter of 1933 and Dad was born 1934 in Orpington, Kent. Samuel was about 53-54 at the time and my grandmother 26-27. He puts his occupation as a carpenters labourer on the birth certificate. There is no middle initial or birth date for him. I found their Marriage Certificate but no other details that helped. Dad was adopted by Alfred Charles H Grout at age 13, he didn't know Alfred was not his father.
As it happened he had a wife whom was not deceased as he had said. There were likely also children of that marriage. The wife was a nurse.
My Great grandfather discovered this and Samuel was charged with Bigamy and had a Returned Servicemans Lawyer, the outcome was mild and my grandmother married Alfred Charles Herbert Grout when Dad was 2yrs, they had a son in 1937.
Dad is 83 soon and I would love to give him news of his paternal fathers relatives. My grandmother would not speak to him on the matter so we know very little 
Samuel had some sort of disability from service and was possibly Irish.
Any advice on how I can trace perhaps the court case for details or any other way would be very much appreciated 
Cheers Jewlz


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[AntonyMMM]

Start with local newspapers for the time of the court case. They should, if you are lucky, give details of the court case and his first marriage. Bigamy would be dealt with at one of the Assize courts, and their records will be at the National Archives.

Gather copies of all the relevant certificates - you say the marriage gave you no details that helped - it should have his age, occupation, address and his father's name and occupation, and names of witnesses - all things that may help identify him. Your father's birth may also have been re-registered after the bigamy case (but not necessarily).

Next track down the marriage certificate for his first marriage and use the information on that to track him and any children of that marriage.

If your father was legally adopted in the 1940s, then there should be records relating to that which he could apply to have access to.

[Geoff-E]

A Samuel KEENAN appears in the 1939 Register living in Dartford.
Date of birth given as 1880.


Full 1939 register details removed as this dataset is exclusive to FindMyPast by subscription, you may only post information from a free search

[JewlzKeenan]

Start with local newspapers for the time of the court case. They should, if you are lucky, give details of the court case and his first marriage. Bigamy would be dealt with at one of the Assize courts, and their records will be at the National Archives.

Gather copies of all the relevant certificates - you say the marriage gave you no details that helped - it should have his age, address and his father's name and occupation - all things to help identify him. Your father's birth may also have been re-registered after the bigamy case (but not necessarily).

Next track down the marriage certificate for his first marriage and use the information on that to track him and any children of that marriage.

If your father was legally adopted in the 1940s, then there should be records relating to that which he could apply to have access to.

Hi, It appears that what I have is a record of the marriage, not the Marriage Certificate as it doesn't mention the bride. I have just registered on MyHeritage and finding my way around.
I will now apply for the actual certificate and try to find the newspapers in that area. I think they also called Bans then and wondered what information may be there.
Thank you for your time.
Jewlz

[rosie99]

The cheapest place to order the certificate is from the GRO at Southport
https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/default.asp
It should cost £9.25

[robesur]

Was Samuel Keenan definitely the biological father of Percival? His mother was obviously very pregnant at the time of the marriage and there is a great difference in the ages of the couple, Samuel Keenan may have been a close friend and agreed to the marriage just to make the birth legitimate, although the real father was someone else.

On the other hand why did he marry when he knew that it was bigamous.

What does the 'H' stand for in Percival Augustus H Keenan? is that a pointer to a possible father?

[JewlzKeenan]

Hello
Yes Samuel was definately the father even though he was twice her age. He was taken to court for Bigamy.
The H has been ruled out conclusively as a clue.
Thank you for your help 

[KitCarson]

Hi JewlzKeenan

Looking at the 1939 Register, Ida can be found with Alfred.  The record shows that Alfred is 19 years older than Ida.  If you don't have that record, you can find it on 'Find my Past'.  Unless you have a subscription, you would have to 'pay to view'.

So, if you are sure that Samuel is your Grandfather, are you happy that we can go in his direction to search further back?

Kit

[JewlzKeenan]

Thanks Kitcarson
Yes Alfred was also a lot older and probably had a previous marriage, maybe even children.
Samuel is Dads father and thats where I'm stuck, my grandmother would not speak of Samuel and Dad knows very little. Samuel may have had some disability/injury from the war.