Who was legally married to whom?

[brentor boy]

1892 William Jesse married Ada
1899 William Jesse married Annie
1901 Ada married William Henry
1905 William Henry married Alice
1927 William Henry died
1931 Ada married James
1941 William Jesse died.

I think it highly unlikely that any of these marriages were legally terminated by annulment or divorce.

[AntonyMMM]

Divorce records, up to 1937, are at The National Archives, and available on Ancestry up to 1916, so easy to check for those. You also need to look at the marriage certificates for each event to see how they described themselves (bachelor, spinster, widow etc.) which may indicate if they are hiding past marriages, and also look for any relevant death certificates of previous spouses.

But is is more than likely that there may be bigamous marriages in there, they are fairly common in late 19th and early 20thC.

[Sandyhall]

1892 William Jesse married Ada
1899 William Jesse married Annie
1901 Ada married William Henry
1905 William Henry married Alice
1927 William Henry died
1931 Ada married James
1941 William Jesse died.

I think it highly unlikely that any of these marriages were legally terminated by annulment or divorce.

Where have you found all of this information. Can you give us more details ie. What was Ada surname and Annie in fact all surnames and places of marriage .

As a William Jesse married to Ada input into FreeBMD gives me this result which is to early.

Marriages Jun 1887
William Sidney Jesse. Shaftesbury Vol no 5a. page no 435
on the same page is Ada Rideout

[Pam Downes]

Where have you found all of this information. Can you give us more details ie. What was Ada surname and Annie in fact all surnames and places of marriage .

As a William Jesse married to Ada input into FreeBMD gives me this result which is to early.

Marriages Jun 1887
William Sidney Jesse. Shaftesbury Vol no 5a. page no 435
on the same page is Ada Rideout

I presumed William Jesse were the forenames, not first and surname, so got William Jesse WHITE and Ada Emma WARD marrying June quarter 1892, Medway registration district.
I didn't look further because I wasn't sure if it was a rhetorical question (certainly badly-phrased if it was an actual query) and also I was in the middle of doing something else.

Pam

[brentor boy]

Thanks AnthonyMMM. I don't subscribe to Ancestry but will look in at ,the library to check out the divorce records.

When Ada married for the second time she described herself as a widow. On the third occasion she described herself as a spinster and modified her father's name accordingly.

William Henry still insisted he was a bachelor on his second marriage. His father's occupation changed from "building contractor" to "master mariner" within 4 years. In fact his father had deserted the family some 10 years earlier and was working as a railway labourer.

Sandyhall. I do have chapter and verse for all the events but did not include it as I did not think it would add anything of relevance and would only cloud the issue. For your interest the first marriage, and I think the only legitimate one, is William Jesse White/ Ada Emma Ward. Medway June 1892. The marriage between Ada Emma Hayman/James T Dedman. Medway Dec 1931 could be regarded as legitimate based on the period of separation from her first husband and the death of her second one.

P S Have just seen Pam's post. Yes, it is largely rhetorical. Just looking for opinions. Sorry not to have made my meaning more clear.

[Sandyhall]

Question - wasn't there a Law at that time if someone was missing for 7 years and you had proof you had made efforts to find them you could regard them as Dead and remarry.



PS having a derrrrrr day today

[brentor boy]

That is my understanding -or something like that.

William Jesse White was quite a character. He enlisted in the Royal Engineers in 1885 and deserted in 1888. Within four months he enlisted in the Royal Navy in 1888. He married Ada Emma Ward in 1892 and then in 1894 deserted the R N ( and presumably his wife and child) and immediately rejoined the Royal Engineers. He was posted to Ireland where he married his second wife in 1899. He then served in South Africa until 1902.

Assuming he did abandon Ada in 1894, her marriage to William Henry Hayman in 1901, seven years later, could be legitimate. Even if she wanted to, she would have had some trouble tracking him down. It also makes William Henry's second marriage in 1905 highly questionable.