Genealogy Chat

My paternal grandfather had three wives divorced , died , and survived (bit like henry viii!). His father had 2 wives, and His father only one wife but she died young and he lived with his mother as housekeeper until she died , then he took on a widowed "housekeeper". So I have intances on both sides of the family of multiple marriages,both sides having one member with three wives . It makes it hard to draw up your tree, especially when those wives were also widows or previously married. Too many branches!! Kim

Thanks - You may have helped me here. My g grandfather was married 3 times and I can find no trace of any of the marriages. I know about wife no 2 as she is on my grandmothers birth certificate. On the 1881 census he is widowed, on the 1891 married to a Mary Ann (must be wife no 3) and 1901 widowed again. I did not know that wife's were listed on death certificates. If I had thought about it properly I should have realised. Thanks a lot Janet

My husband's great great grandfather had 3 wives all called Mary and the only reason I worked it out was she was younger on each census entry!His cousin with the same name also had 3 wives too (this time they all had different names.)But think about it , no childminders really in those days and no Widows pension, you would need a wife/husband if you had a young family to bring up. I think it was more common than we would imagine. Also illness carried people off probably far younger and far more often than we are used to. Kim

Hi Lynne I have had a death certificate of a man who had 3 wives and only 2 are listed. As the informant was the son of the 2nd I think he just missed the first off or didn't know anything about her. Caroline

My GGGGrandmother born c1811 was married the first time young and had been widowed before her second marriage in 1833 and married widowed again in 1857, I have lost track of her at the moment but I am intrigued as to how many husbands she saw off!!

I have a gt gt grandfather who was married 3 times. Both his first and second wife died. I found my gt grandmother was the daughter of wife no. 1 and the Aunt Chat who helped my grandfather after WW1 was her half-sister by wife no. 2. I have several people in my tree who married twice, after their first spouse died, but this is the only case of 3 I have. Even with the high mortality rate, risks of childbirth and outbreaks of infectious diseases, I think three would be unusual, though certainly not impossible. Helen

Hi all Has anyone had people in their tree from the mid 1800s who have been married three times? This seems to be the only explanation for one of my ancestors. I have an Edward McLerie who was born in 1832, first marriage in 1860, second in 1867 and third in 1884. He then died aged 60 in 1898. What a busy life! Only two of the marriages (second and third) are listed on his death certificate. Is this normal? Thanks Lynne