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Author Topic: Divorce in the 1850s England  (Read 2065 times)

Offline Lyn Riley

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Divorce in the 1850s England
« on: Tuesday 30 July 19 23:32 BST (UK) »
My relation married in Nottingham in 1853 and emigrated as a single man to NZ in 1859. Could you divorce in the 1850s or would he have done a runner?  I can't find any death notification for his first wife, and he married very quickly on arrival into NZ. On his marriage certificate in NZ to wife No 2, it says single.  Thoughts/bigamy?

Offline crisane

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Re: Divorce in the 1850s England
« Reply #1 on: Tuesday 30 July 19 23:45 BST (UK) »
Hi Lyn
Divorce was possible but not within the means of the ordinary worker so highly unlikely. More likely that he just upped and left his wife to make a life in a new country. Or she may have left him and he then moved away. Have you looked for a remarriage for the first wife under both her married and maiden surname.

Offline Lyn Riley

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Re: Divorce in the 1850s England
« Reply #2 on: Wednesday 31 July 19 00:10 BST (UK) »
thanks for your quick response.  I have (very generally) looked for a remarriage but it is like a needle in a haystack. I just don't want to call him a bigamist if she died or remarried etc....but he did call himself single (not divorced/widow etc).

Offline crisane

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Re: Divorce in the 1850s England
« Reply #3 on: Wednesday 31 July 19 02:25 BST (UK) »
Maybe he was telling the truth and the marriage in 1853 wasn't him? You have the certificate? Father's name and occupation match his details from the censuses/baptism?

Offline wivenhoe

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Re: Divorce in the 1850s England
« Reply #4 on: Wednesday 31 July 19 03:10 BST (UK) »

".. needle in a haystack..".     Do you mean that it is a very ordinary name?

If you list the information on the marriage record, New Zealand, we might be able to identify the origins of the groom.

Offline majm

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Re: Divorce in the 1850s England
« Reply #5 on: Wednesday 31 July 19 06:08 BST (UK) »
Hi, 

I have just inspected my  copy of a 1850s N.Z. marriage entry for a parish register I obtained several decades ago,   ..... 

Parish register .... bachelor,  spinster ....

Have you considered checking the church register?  Perhaps the word 'single' is used on NZ BDM issued certificates? 

JM
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Offline rosie99

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Re: Divorce in the 1850s England
« Reply #6 on: Wednesday 31 July 19 07:16 BST (UK) »
Welcome to rootschat

Would you like to tell us his name and who he married in 1853 in case we can help solve the mystery of his wife

Do you have a copy of the first marriage certificate, if so could you please post the details
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Offline stanmapstone

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Re: Divorce in the 1850s England
« Reply #7 on: Wednesday 31 July 19 08:38 BST (UK) »
Divorce was legally impossible in England and Wales after the Reformation until 1857 except through a private Act of Parliament. Until 1857 only the ecclesiastical courts had jurisdiction to assist spouses who could not use the parliamentary procedure.
See http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/divorce/

Stan
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Offline trish1120

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Re: Divorce in the 1850s England
« Reply #8 on: Wednesday 31 July 19 13:19 BST (UK) »
My Ancestor married in England 1853, had 2 children ( 1 died young) and went to Australia 1857 (Gold Rush)
His Wife remarried 1859 and he remarried 1869 in OZ and then went to New Zealand.
Will will never know if they split up or she just did not want to follow him to Australia.
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Cummins, Miskelly(IRELAND + NZ) ,Leggett (SFK + NFK ENGLAND + NZ),Purdy ( NBL ENGLAND + NZ ), Shaw YKS, LANCs + NZ), Holdsworth(LINCS +LANCS + NZ), Moloney, Dean, Fitzpatrick, ( County Down,IRE) Newby(NBL.ENG, Costello(IRE), Ivers, Murray(IRE),Reay(NBL.ENG) Reid (BERW.SCOTLAND)
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