Missing Marriage? Harry George William Vernon

[Clairekellet]

Can anyone shed any light on a supposed marriage between my paternal Grandparents?

My Grandfather Harry George William Vernon, born 11 Feb 1907 20 Manor Gdns Islington
Death Jul 1982 Westminster London.

( He had a previous marriage to a Doris M. Hawkes in March 1933 in Battle,Sussex & a son in 1940)

My  Grandmother Jemima Kellett Jepps, born 14 May 1918 Ballinabarny Ireland
changed name to Jenifer Kellett Jepps

They were supposedly married and had my Father in 1945 in Cheltenham

I have hunted high and low for proof of this marriage but to no avail.
Can anyone find different?
Many thanks

[avm228]

Had Doris died?

[avm228]

Doris May Vernon born 31 July 1911 died Sep qtr 1989 Hastings & Rother.

So unless there was a divorce, Harry was not free to remarry in the 1940s.

[Clairekellet]

Yes Doris has died.Her son told us that she hired a personal detective to find Harry & upon receiving news that he was with my Grandmother & had another child, she divorced him.
When my Grandmother found out about Doris,she said Harry was a bigmamist!

I cant find a divorce or a new marriage!
So many secrets and mysteries and stories in this family...a big tangled web that is very hard to unravel...but I'm determined! 

[avm228]

Perhaps any second marriage took place in Ireland, if at all?

Unfortunately these dates are too modern for English divorce records to be easily available (if they survive at all).  You can sometimes find divorce cases listed by surname in court lists in archived copies of The Times.

Plenty of people in this situation would have held themselves out as married without actually being so.

[Clairekellet]

I know...my Grandmother was adamant that they were married & it would have been here, probably Cheltenham,not Ireland.Around 1944/1945
My Father says lots of records were lost but I think it more likely that they werent married at all.

[avm228]

I am not aware of any bulk loss of civil registration records. There is a (probably vanishingly small) chance that a marriage registration did not make its way from the local office to the GRO, so to cover that off you may want to see whether the people at Cheltenham office can find anything.  NB register offices vary in their ability/willingness to pursue this sort of inquiry!

[carol8353]

Doris May Vernon born 31 July 1911 died Sep qtr 1989 Hastings & Rother.

So unless there was a divorce, Harry was not free to remarry in the 1940s.

That does indeed appear to be the correct Doris as she has that DOB on the 1939 register where she is with Harry GW Vernon.

[hepburn]

The birth of Clair's father has  Vernon has his surname and Jepps has his mother's  maiden name.