jeeb
27-04-2009, 3:33 PM
Probably one of the most asked questions on this forum is "Why can't I find a Marriage?"
As Genealogists this can be a real problem and often the cause of a 'brickwall' In cases of more recent marriages the most likely reason is simply bad indexing or incorrect information. Only recently a question was posed stating that a marriage had taken place in 1900 but there was no sign of the husband in 1901. The only suitable candidate was listed as unmarried and a lodger in a different county. However on deeper investigation this man was found to be lodging with a family with the same name as his mother's maiden name and the 1911 census puts the couple back together again with the two oldest children giving a birthplace the same as the mother's 1901 abode, thus the 1901 census wrongly stated that the father was unmarried.
Many women on censuses are listed as 'wife' yet after extensive searches no marriage is ever found, this is usually because a marriage never actually took place and she was living as a 'common law wife'. This happened far more than people realise as divorce was almost impossible for the the majority of the population but some couples simply 'never got round to it'.
Bigamy was common too. I have a case in my own family where a marriage took place between a Henry Boaz & Sophia Wollaston in 1844. I knew Henry had married in 1839 and I could not find a death for the first wife. On 1851/61/71 censuses Sophia was stated as wife. Henry died in 1874 and in his will dated just before his death he left everything to Sophia Wollaston, his housekeeper and probate was granted to Sophia Chapman wife of Cornelius Chapman nee Wollaston. This baffled me for quite awhile and I assumed, which should never be done, that Henry had committed bigamy. Then I found Henry's first wife dead in 1842 under the name of Bows so this baffled me even more as I could not find a marriage between Sophia Wollaston & Cornelius Chapman around 1874. It was not until I discovered Cornelius Chapman, married and with a family in 1851 did I realise what had happened. Cornelius & Sophia had married pre 1844 and it was Sophia who had committed bigamy when she married Henry Boaz. Note she reverted to her real name to claim her inheritence legally.
Pre the Hardwicke Marriage Act of 1753 vast amounts of marriages were clandestine, ie in secret. Many of these marriages would never have been recorded so are virtually impossible to find. In London alone it is estimated that around 6,000 clandestine marriages took place in Fleet prison annually beside many more in other parts of the country. The cost of a bribe to a less than honest Clergyman or even someone pretenting to be the clergy was usually all it took. Reasons for these clandestine marriages are numerous but examples are that one or both was a minor (under 21) and had not got parent's consent. One or both was committing Bigamy. None of the social classes seemed to be immune to clandestine marriages.
Jeremy
As Genealogists this can be a real problem and often the cause of a 'brickwall' In cases of more recent marriages the most likely reason is simply bad indexing or incorrect information. Only recently a question was posed stating that a marriage had taken place in 1900 but there was no sign of the husband in 1901. The only suitable candidate was listed as unmarried and a lodger in a different county. However on deeper investigation this man was found to be lodging with a family with the same name as his mother's maiden name and the 1911 census puts the couple back together again with the two oldest children giving a birthplace the same as the mother's 1901 abode, thus the 1901 census wrongly stated that the father was unmarried.
Many women on censuses are listed as 'wife' yet after extensive searches no marriage is ever found, this is usually because a marriage never actually took place and she was living as a 'common law wife'. This happened far more than people realise as divorce was almost impossible for the the majority of the population but some couples simply 'never got round to it'.
Bigamy was common too. I have a case in my own family where a marriage took place between a Henry Boaz & Sophia Wollaston in 1844. I knew Henry had married in 1839 and I could not find a death for the first wife. On 1851/61/71 censuses Sophia was stated as wife. Henry died in 1874 and in his will dated just before his death he left everything to Sophia Wollaston, his housekeeper and probate was granted to Sophia Chapman wife of Cornelius Chapman nee Wollaston. This baffled me for quite awhile and I assumed, which should never be done, that Henry had committed bigamy. Then I found Henry's first wife dead in 1842 under the name of Bows so this baffled me even more as I could not find a marriage between Sophia Wollaston & Cornelius Chapman around 1874. It was not until I discovered Cornelius Chapman, married and with a family in 1851 did I realise what had happened. Cornelius & Sophia had married pre 1844 and it was Sophia who had committed bigamy when she married Henry Boaz. Note she reverted to her real name to claim her inheritence legally.
Pre the Hardwicke Marriage Act of 1753 vast amounts of marriages were clandestine, ie in secret. Many of these marriages would never have been recorded so are virtually impossible to find. In London alone it is estimated that around 6,000 clandestine marriages took place in Fleet prison annually beside many more in other parts of the country. The cost of a bribe to a less than honest Clergyman or even someone pretenting to be the clergy was usually all it took. Reasons for these clandestine marriages are numerous but examples are that one or both was a minor (under 21) and had not got parent's consent. One or both was committing Bigamy. None of the social classes seemed to be immune to clandestine marriages.
Jeremy