Marriage of Morris Abraham Fileman

[Dave26]

Many thanks for that Justin. Maybe they had a secret marriage because their respective families didn't approve of Morris marrying his brother's daughter.

Thanks again
Dave

[JustinL]

You're welcome, Dave.

It's certainly true that Morris' and Miriam's parents could quite easily have thwarted an authorised Jewish wedding by refusing to provide the necessary proof. I should point out though that marriages at this degree of consanguinity were not uncommon within Jewish communities (there were a few amongst my 19th century ancestors), and there was often a significant age-gap between the groom and the bride. It wouldn't surprise if there more such marriages in a family as huge as the Filemans.

The Marriage Act of 1836 allowed the couple to marry in a registry office without the consent of their parents. Jewish couples are known to have taken this route when an authorised Jewish marriage was not possible, for whatever reason. It seems odd that Morris and Miriam do not appear to have done the same.

Justin