Divorce details

[PippaR]

Hi, I'm not sure where to really put this question but wondering if someone can point me in the best direction to find a divorce date.  Can't find it on FindMyPast or Ancestry or National Archives - probably not looking in the right area.
Grace Bennett 5 Aug 1913 Horwich married John Swift 4 April 1913 in Horwich, July 1938.
Grace remarried William Charnock in April 1951, Chorley.
John Swift died in 2001.
Is there a time restriction on getting the divorce date?  If not, where should I look?
Would appreciate your help please.
PippaR

[BumbleB]

This might help

https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/divorce/

[garstonite]

SO -IF they were divorced - her marriage registration in 1951 states
CHARNOCK         William    SWIFT    Chorley    10c   75    
CHARNOCK    William    BENNETT
Wouldn't it just say Bennett if she was divorced ??
have you checked John Swifts WW2 War record - was he a POW for a number of years ? maybe he came back mentally disturbed or such like - I would have thought the divorce came after WW2 ie 1945 which narrows down the years 

[Barbara.H]

If you've been on FindMyPast you may have already discounted this as it's not in Lancashire, but the old newspaper archive has an entry in the Derbyshire Daily Telegraph, 2 April 1949:

"Granted Divorce Degrees .... John Swift of The Dale, Hassock Lane, Shipley (wife's desertion).."

[PippaR]

Thanks all,
I had not factored any particular surname into the remarriage in 1951 but rather assumed that a marriage could not be undertaken without a divorce regardless of the mental/physical circumstances of John Swift.  Once again assuming the remarriage was legitimate.
The 1939 census had the name Swift replaced with Charnock which must have occurred post 1951.
Without obtaining the death cert for John Swift, he lived to a ripe age.
Grace died in Morecambe, UK.  2014 (not bad age either).
I hadn't planned to delve deeper into details of Wm Charnock to gather clues as I don't know it would solve this mystery.
Your help has been appreciated.
cheers, PippaR

[rosie99]

I cannot give the details but if you look at the 1939 Register (not a census) for her you will see that the surname has been changed in Green ink and alongside there is a CR283 reference which gives the date that the NHS changed her name on the register.

[PippaR]

Thanks heaps Rosie, you're a gem.
PippaR