1930's Divorce

[v.wells]

What kind of information should I expect to see on the TNA records for a divorce that took place in 1930's. The wife was the appellant and the husband the respondent. Would it give the details of why the divorce was initiated in the first place and would it give detail of child custody. Did the man always get the children or was it up to the judge?

I was going to order the records and wondered what info they would contain.

[christanel]

About 4 weeks ago I purchased - on line, by digital express service- from TNA the divorce records with the final decree granted in 1924.
I was able to download 10 pages on this divorce which was sought by the husband due to his wife's ongoing infidelity with another bloke. (who I thought was my ggrandfather but it wasn't)
Page one gives names of those involved and the various dates for instigation of proceedings and date of final decree.
Then 3rd page gives date and history of marriage, address and living children. Also occupation of petitioner at time of proceedings and address. Also address of wife. There are also photocopies of birth certificates for two children plus the marriage certificate of couple divorcing.
Then a page saying where and for how long the affair had been going on and the present address of the wife.
Then a page granting the divorce and giving custody of one child to the petitioner - the second girl being the co-respondents child even though her birth cert has her father down as her mother's husband.
So yes there is a lot of info - pity the co-respondent wasn't my rellie after all - and it is an unusual surname too and just the sort of thing he would have done.
Christina|biggrin|

[v.wells]

Thanks christanel. I tried ordering yesterday but closed for Bank holiday. We have a civic holiday for Monday but I always lose track of the days. I am really interested in what these records tell me as there were 4 children involved and it will help unravel a mystery we are having with this family.

Thank you for replying:)

I'm sorry it wasn't your rellie - you could have had a black sheep to add!

[christanel]

I'm sorry it wasn't your rellie - you could have had a black sheep to add!

Oh I knew he was a black sheep without a divorce. Deserted wife and children to join the army, deserted, rejoined under an alias, deserted, rejoined under another alias. Meanwhile daughter died and his son, my dad, adopted out by his mother. Just obtained a record which shows they got back together and had another son.

By the way, when ordering by digital exress make sure you put in the correct details as on the site. Any small deviation and they won't process it. You also have 7 days to download it and the staff are brilliant.
Christina

[v.wells]

christanel - Your rellie sounds like a real rotter!|5cups|

Yes I have ordered digital express before. I did try on Friday but it rejected my Mastercard - could be because I hadn't logged in and now they are closed until Tuesday.

I'm so brain cluttered that I forgot we had our civic holiday 3 weeks ago - it is Labour Day on Sept 3, my son informed me:D

[Astoria]

Have tried to find records for a divorce on TNA but no luck. Do they hold records for the 1960's.

[v.wells]

J77 is the code for divorces and they do mention which years are available. I would look but have to restart pc due mail program being strange. They may not be as I had looked for one in the 40's and they had been destroyed.

[Geoffers]

Have tried to find records for a divorce on TNA but no luck. Do they hold records for the 1960's.

No. Have a browse of TNA's research guide on Divorce (http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/RdLeaflet.asp?sLeafletID=53)

[v.wells]

I have just received 10 pages of 14 of the divorce records! What a right pair these two were. Both committed adultery, but her after he departed and lived with another woman for a year. His mistress was Ada Hoare, Widow (son said it was fitting) and her fling was with a dentist whoe whereabouts were unknown at the time of the suit for divorce.

I discovered the birth of the 2 nd son, who my relative said was the eldest, but he wasn't. There also appears to have been another Sanderson who married a Lillian B. Wells in the same area as my aunt and who also had childen about the same time. All these births showed up on A* except for the 2nd son. So we assumed that he must have been illegitimate - not so. Without the divorce papers giving his date of birth he would have remained a brickwall but I went back and searched the GRO Indexes on A* and found him. It pays to always dblecheck. My aunt was back at home at my grandparents at the time of the divorce, so I am still mystified as to why the eldest son (or maybe all of the children) ended up at Barnardos. The children were never transported out of the country as they all wound up in Lancs (after my aunt died) and married and had children there. My next stop is to write to Barnardos for info and wait in anticipation for the remaining 4 pages to arrive.:D

[christanel]

|woohoo||woohoo||woohoo||woohoo|
Fantastic. So much information. I am so happy for you. Keep us posted.
Christina

[v.wells]

Yes, she also applied as a "poor person" as her earnings were less than £2 per week and her total "value" was less than £50. She qualified to have the court fees waived and as he was a "no show" at the hearing, it was no contest and the divorce decree granted. Have just ordered the remaining 4 pages, so hopefully later today I will see what happens for the finale.

I remember my father mentioning once that there were a couple of divorces in the family - I couldn't recall any names and that's the only time he mentioned it - it was frowned upon. My sister said there was none, then said there was 1. Now I have confirmed there were 2.:D The documents were destroyed for the other one.

Even though it was a bit of a chuckle reading the documents, I felt great sympathy for my aunt. She lost her children, suffered chronic nephritis and was dead in less than 10 years after this divorce. Sad. Her husband transplanted the children and messed them up by putting 1 or all in Barnardos.

[v.wells]

I received the last 4 pages this morning and need clarification of the following:

Unless sufficient cause be shown to the Court why this Decree should not be made absolute within Six Months from the making thereof, (and condemned the said Respondent in the costs incurred and to be incurred on behalf of the said Petitioner in this cause.
And on the application of Counsel for the Petitioner it is ordered that
*
*
The children, issue of the marriage between the Petitioner and the Respondent, do remain in the custody of the Petitioner until further order of the Court, but it is directed that such children be not removed out of the jurisdiction of the Court without its sanction.
And it is further ordered that the Petitioner do pay to the Respondent her taxed costs, not to exceed the amount ordered to be paid into Court or secured for the Wife’s costs of hearing.

The italics represent a line drawn thru it and the children not named. Does this mean that Edith lost immediate custody - her husband lived in another county. It doesn't state any address for the children whether they were with him or her.

I am trying to figure out the where and how the eldest son and perhaps the rest of the children ended up in Barnardos. The son would have been 19 and the youngest 15 unless they ended up in Barnardos much earlier and the circumstances unexplained? Edith had applied for and obviously received poor relief since she didn't have to pay for the petition which she initiated.

Any thoughts?

[SBSFamilyhistory]

You
say that children are named in any divorce papers, what if they are no longer children? For example my grandfather was divorced my his first wife when their son was 23/24 would information be given about him on the divorce papers?

Sue

[v.wells]

The children weren't named on this particular page. They were named on a previous page outlining the verification of marriage and pertinent offspring. The children would have been between 16-17 and 11-12 at the time the petition was presented in 1932. The disolution of the marriage was granted in 1933. Of course the husband could have taken them away, out of the county, as soon as she filed and somehow they ended up in Barnados when he couldn't take care of them. Or maybe it was just the eldest boy that went astray early on and was given into their care.

[v.wells]

After re-reading Christanel's post I have come to realize that since no birth certs were produced at the time of the hearing and no custody papers attached, then the husband must have moved the children back to Lancs where he was from and poor Edith never got to see them again.

[Fflur]

I am trying to locate a divorce circa 1940, which was granted in the Old Bailey. It took many years to be decided and proved to be so expensive that it bankrupted the person who eventually divorced his wife.
I have understood that most records of this period do not exist. Am I correct? How do I check?

[Geoffers]

I am trying to locate a divorce circa 1940, which was granted in the Old Bailey. It took many years to be decided and proved to be so expensive that it bankrupted the person who eventually divorced his wife.

Have a look through this TNA research guide on divorce (http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/RdLeaflet.asp?sLeafletID=53)

[Waitabit]

Just popped in to post a query, found Vanessa & Fflur have done it for me,thank you both ;) & had the answers given. Thanks Christanel & Geoffers. Interesting reading & I can pass on a little hope to another. :)