Genealogy Chat

Lucy or Emma Took have been great in giving me info about my rellies, but.... John Dowson was married to Mary Jane Walton and they had 2 children on the 1881 census, they were all born in Evenwood Durham, or in the direct area, fine, I can cope with that. Then on the 1891 census, Mary has stayed, being a boarder in Evenwood with her children, but John has gone to Glossop! there he has a "wife" and 2 children age 3 & 2 yrs, would he have to get a divorce in 1887 or did women, in those days have "partners" or is he a bigamist? Any ideas anyone? By the way, Mary had 2 more children after he had gone!! Oh the joys of researching your ancestors!!!! Kim

Possibly lived with a partner in Glossop, but told the enumerator she was his wife. Could have been divorced, though that was very rare in those days, and bigamy could have been the answer. The only way to know for sure, is to try and find another marriage certificate.

My gt gt grandfather married his first wife in 1868 and his second one in 1879. However, it does state on the second marriage certificate that he is the divorced husband of ... However, I believe a lot of couples did not resort to divorce proceedings as it was probably costly so instead they would separate and bigamously marry another partner (even making out they were a widow or widower!) until the law caught up with them or just live together without divorce or marriage. And people say about todays' generation!! Helen

Carol & Helen, Thanks for your replies, maybe this is my "skeleton in the cupboard"! I will get my teeth into this one. Kim

Max how do I go about finding what the paper was called and if it is still existance? because when I went to the local paper in Chertsey all they keep is one year and they just said they couldn't help me. Kim