Looking for advice

[munchkin2474]

Hi,

I've been researching my family tree for a while now and i returned to concentrate on my maternal Grandfather who i know very little about. Through tracing relatives and subsequently meeting up with them i have been told via his nieces that my Grandfather went to prison for bigamy. I really don't know if this is true or not. What i have found out is that he did in fact commit Bigamy but whether he was convicted for it or not i just do not know. He married my nan in 1937, done a disappearing act c.1943 and he remarried in 1951 in a completely different part of the counrty. My Nan remarried in 1974 and i do know from their marriage certificate that the marriage had definitely been dissolved by then. I've also been trying to find out when the marriage was dissolved but this has proven to be a complete headache. How would i go about searching to find out if this is true or not? I would hugely appreciate any help to point me in the right direction! Many thanks.

[Girl Guide]

Hello Munchkin, welcome to Rootschat 

I'm afraid the likelihood of finding any divorce record is very small.  A snippet of info from the National Archives:-

The survival rate of divorce case files is:

1858-1927: almost 100%
1928-1937: 80%
After 1937: less than 0.2%
No case files survive from the district registries set up in 1927.

As you can see, the survival rate after 1937 is very small  indeed.

What exactly would you like to find out about your maternal grandfather?  If you wish to have help with him you will need to provide a name, birth year and place of birth.

[cath151]

Hi
Some bigamy cases around that time were reported in the newspapers, there are several names mentioned.
Cathy

[AntonyMMM]

Divorce case papers aren't available after 1937, but you can still search for the record of a divorce and get a copy of any decree absolute issued. It won't have  any details of the reasons for the divorce though - just the date and place the decree was granted and the names of the two parties.


https://www.gov.uk/copy-decree-absolute-final-order

Best chance for details of a bigamy case are local newspapers as previously recommended, but for that period not that many are available on-line