bigamist

[rburland]

Hi everyone, this is the most help I've had ever with finding my bigamist. I did apply for a search to the Family Division for them to search for either a divorce or nullity cert but the result was negative and they searched twice. My Grandma subsequently married again in 1942 and My Dad was adopted by this man. If there was no record of nullity etc does this mean her subsequent marriage was not valid??? If anyone wants any further info please ask.
Many thanks so far,
Rachel

[Geoffers]

If there was no record of nullity etc does this mean her subsequent marriage was not valid??? If anyone wants any further info please ask.

No, it was the first ceremony (that she went through) that was not legal. As it was not legal, it was in effect as though it had not taken place. So that when she did legally marry in 1942, it was her first marriage.

You have a couple of options, neither of which is easy. First a search of newspapers from approximatley the time she first found about about the offence until her own marriage - bearing in mind that this was in wartime, the coverage may not be that extensive.

Second will involve going to TNA at Kew for a long search through the files there. In your shoes, I would first start with the indexed offences for which I previously provided links. As they are indexed, they will be easy to locate and there are not that many of them - 12 cases and some of them relate to women defendents.

[Marie C..]

Have you got the marriage cert of the second marriage.(first really as the previous one was bigamous)?What does it give as bride's status.(married and divorced or marriage annulled or just spinster?
How do you know his proper name and that the person at the address in Birmingham was actually him. In order to marry in church would he not have needed a copy of his baptismal certificate?
If he married in a registry office then might it be worth writing to the registrar of the place the bigamous wedding took place and ask what was on the register.
Were there any children born to the couple in Birmingham? M

[Maximilian]

The bigamous marriage would be voidable. As I understand it, a decree of nullity would be required and a statement that was such a decree can be obtained from the Principal Registry of the Family Division.

The question is - does anybody know whether it would be feasible to start investigating this case via such a decree?

Sorry, Peter Goodey, but this is wrong. A bigamous "marriage", that is to say, a ceremony in which at that time one of the parties is already legally married to a living third party, is void ab initio i.e. from the moment it takes place, without any requirement for any decree by anybody.

One effect of this is that the party who was not previously married is free at any time to go through a marriage ceremony with another person without needing any decree of nullity or divorce.

[Geoffers]

Have you got the marriage cert of the second marriage.(first really as the previous one was bigamous)?What does it give as bride's status.(married and divorced or marriage annulled or just spinster?

For the legal marriage in 1942 - the marital status should be spinster as she would not need a divorce and the first ceremony was not legal so there would be no marriage to annul.

How do you know his proper name

I think that's a large part of the problem.

In order to marry in church would he not have needed a copy of his baptismal certificate?

No.

[rburland]

Hi everyone, this is probably a silly question. How would the police have been alerted to the fact that this man was already married especially if he used a false name?

[Elwyn Soutter]

Usually because someone tipped the police off. The most obvious person would be the first wife who would be pretty miffed to discover her husband had a second wife in another part fo the country and would think "I'll show him", and report it to get even.

Elwyn

[Lesley Robertson]

Usually because someone tipped the police off. The most obvious person would be the first wife who would be pretty miffed to discover her husband had a second wife in another part fo the country and would think "I'll show him", and report it to get even.

Elwyn

On a couple of reports I've seen, it said that the Registrar reported it - presumably the first marriage only came to his notice late.
Lesley

[Elwyn Soutter]

Yes I agree the Registrar may have reported it, but only because someone brought it to the Registrar's attention. Usually an enraged 1st spouse. It highlights the difference between the UK system of recording data and countries which follow the Code Napolenique (ie many European countries).

In countries like France and Holland your birth is recorded in your local town hall. Whenever an event takes place, such as marriage, divorce etc, there is a reference back to the local jurisdiction. A record is then made of each transaction, even if the event itself was on the other side of the country. It's not foolproof but theere is some tracking and it avoids some of the bolder frauds.

Whereas in the UK, until recently, no real evidence of ID was required. So I could have got married one day as Micky Mouse from Disneyworld, and the next as Donald Duck from Disneyland, and no enquiry would have been made as to whether a) I was Micky Mouse and b) whether I was free to marry.

So going back to this case, there was no way that the Registrar who conducted the first marriage would known of a subsequent bigamous marriage unless someone told him. Likewise the registrar at the second marriage had no duty to search for previous marriages. All he had to do was ask each party if they were free to marry. If either lied he would never normally know, and he was not obliged to check records acorss the UK, whereas in Europe there is an obligation to verfy the information. The UK has been a very trusting nation on such issues for many years. Many must have exploited this over the years.

Elwyn

[rburland]

Wanted to let you know I have found my bigamist grandfather. His name is William Sinclair RIddle born 1909 in Australia. I have been contacted by a daughter of his who has the full newspaper report of his arrest complete with an interview by my grandmother Ivy Lee. He died in 1987. This has taken me 10 years but I am now able to complete my tree.