Genealogy Chat

I have a rellie who got married in the 1920s but it seems he was already married so I dont know whether the marriage was annulled.I have looked on 1837 its there, but there are no notes next to it which I would expect if it had been annulled, and I know her baby was not named after him, even though it was his.thanks in advance

I am not sure I understand your question but: A bigamous marriage is not a legal marriage and therefore has no need to be annulled. But a marriage which is later KNOWN (by the Registrar) to be bigamous, cannot be removed from the Register (nothing can be removed). What should happen is that the Registrar notes a reference number against the entry, which alerts the clerks to the fact that they cannot issue this certificate without reference to the Registrar, or his Book of Corrections..A request by you to the Registrar in this case for a copy Marriage Cert should bring the response 'We are unable to issue a certificate because the information you gave does not match that on the certificate'. You gave the info that a MARRIAGE HAD TAKEN PLACE, when legally it hadnt. In theory, therefore, you should not be able to see an entry, even in the Indexes. But we all know the difference between theory and practice... Olde Crone

interesting Old Crone I might send for it see what happens thanks

The second marriage should be listed as normal and would tell you the condition of marriage as given at the time. It may say single, widowed, divorced, if your lucky it may have a note of annulment, marriage voided or just about anything else.

Thanks Lunar I was told she remarried in 1940 but not found it yet will have another look

Ahhhhh My Speciality!!!!!! If a marriage was bigamous and the innocent party wished to remarry, they were supposed to go top the courts to apply for a declaration of nullity. This they would have to present when applying to remarry (in the same way that divorce papers have to be seen for a divorcee to remarry). If this had been done and the sup. registrar completed his duties correctly, then if you applied for the marriage cert you would get the answer as described by Olde Crone, above....... However, I am doubtful that very many people followed the correct procedure, so if you ask for the cert and receive it, and it looks normal, then it maybe either the the declaration of nullity was never applied for, or the sup. registrar didn't do his job correctly in arranging for the cert to be suppressed. Merry

Hi Merry where would I find a Declaration of Nulity if one was issued. Also how would they know she had been married before if she didnt say anything could she have married again without anyone knowing about the first marriage thanks . Also just realised her daughter had 2 surnames at birth, the first mans surname as her middle name and her mothers maiden name, which seems odd.

I don't know how you would find the declaration except that the cert should be suppressed if she had applied for one! These declarations would be applied for at a local court. Sometimes they are reported in The Times newspaper archive. You are right, if she didn't say anything, no one would be any the wiser (ask my gran, she did this!!)............... You might be able to get a clue from the ''condition'' at the second marriage....... Merry

I have a reletive that married twice and he is a batchular on both certificates. At best he was widowered and remarried to my other relative at worst he is a lieing cheating bigamist! The certificates look perfectly normal.

I am going to send for the marriage cert for the first one and if I can find the second marriage which looks doubtful will send for that too.I might even send for their daughters birth cert while I am at it see what that says. The funny thing is this side of our family think they are so posh , and they have more skeletons than our lot.No wonder they didnt want the family tree to be done !!!!

hello Margaret dont know about interesting, a pain is what I call them. Thats very kind of you will email you as its a bit sensitive thanks

hello . i just came accross your messages , hope you dont mind me asking how you got on because i am in same situation , i was told by family who have died now that my grandad was a bigamist , how can i get that in writing , i have looked for over 16 years with no luck , thank you from denise

Denise, this is a very old post. Chances are Val isn't on GR any longer. Best to send her an email and see if she responds. I haven't seen her here for a long while.

I can see this is an old thread but just wanted to add that you can get a marriage certificate from a bigamous marriage because I helped someone do just that a couple of years ago.

Her parents married in the 1940's and when her mother was pregnant she found out that her "husband" was already married (because he was awol from the army and they came and arrested him which is when she found he was already married).

The "marriage" was still in the marriage index and she bought the certificate.

Kath. x

Denise

If you are looking for help, start your own thread...................instead of adding to such old ones