Genealogy Chat

does anyone have any ideas on how i can find out if someone was a convicted bigamist my husbands grandmother told us her father Albert Cook born 1881 Birmingham was a bigamist and that his wife Mary Winters (married 26/10/1902) reported him to the police and had him convicted, my husbands grandmother didnt know if they ever divorced but says he was never part of the family again, apparently he had at at least one daughter with his other wife we would like to find out if this is true or just one of those family tales but we cant find any info
any help would be great
michelle

If the 'marriage' was bigamous, they couldn't divorce..........they weren't legally married.

No albert and Mary were married it was the other wife that wasnt legal

Michelle,

Do you know the name of his other "wife"?

There are some Albert Cook's on West Midlands BMD website but because Cook is a fairly common name you would need to know the other name to get a match.

Unfortunately i don`t all I have is his details when he was married to my husbands great grandmother

Hi Michelle,

I have something similar in my family and the marriage is still listed in the complete BMD index on Ancestry so it's worth looking for his name.

Also it was reported in the local paper so a trip to the local library might shed some light on whether the story was true or not.

I hope this helps, good luck,
Caz x

I have a bigamist in my family - well he wasn't one but his "wife" was ... As he lived in London it was reported in The Times.

Your case is bound to be in the local paper - they loved a bit of scandal!

Jill

my gt.grandfather was a bigamist and the trail is documented on oldbaileyonline.org.
good luck
chris

It seems that there were many a bigamist around.Thank you all for your help
I will try the local papers etc it would be nice to find out who his other wife was as we know they had at least 1 child a daughter would be good to find her too
If anyone comes across him in their searches then please let me know
thank you all for your help
michelle

Miehelle -- just to add a bit.

There are 5 births in Birmingham after 1911 with father Cook and mother Winters -- 1913 to 1923. (There could be others not yet transcribed?) If they're your people, you have a bit of a time frame -- although you may already know what it is. Any idea how old the children were when he left?

Do you know whether the subsequent marriage likely took place in Birmingham? Did your Albert have a middle name/initial?

As so far transcribed by FreeBMD for Birmingham after 1923,

Albert L married Griffiths in 1927
Albert E married Down in 1927

but a very large lot of Albert Cooks married elsewhere. ;)

Kathryn
not sure if they married in Birmingham all we know is that when Marks grandmother talked about it she remembers being young when the other wife turned up on the doorstep with a child in arms His grandmother was May born 1922
kids that were with Mary Winters Albert 1913 Elsie 1917 Nelly,Harold,Ernest,Arthur,Minny1920,May1922, Ivy 1923.
Alberts father was a jeweller called Walter his mother was called Fanny Bradley
Alberts brothers and sisters were Nelly,Walter,William,David we know nothing about the other family
michelle