Genealogy Chat

I have a marriage record for my ggrandfather Joseph William Sweetman and his first wife, Annie Coleman ,in 1896 but I can't find one for his second marriage to Jane Wooton b c 1878 St Giles East which must have been around 1905 prob. London/Islington/Pancras areas.(my grandfather's half bro. was born 1904 and my grandfather was born Feb 1906 and Jane Sweetman, formerly Wooton appears on birth cert) Any ideas anyone?

Are you sure they actually married? I have several relatives who claimed to be married but apparently weren't. They were unlikely to bother to explain the exact nature of their relationship to a census enumerator. Peter

Hi Peter I'm assuming that as the birth certificate for my Grandfather has her as Jane Sweetman formerly Wooton, that they did get married but of course I can't be positive. Barb

Look a long way past the likely date - you sometimes find marriages decades later. Did the first wife die? You may find she was still alive and the couple couldnt marry until her death?

My gt grandfather never married my gt grandmother. On the 1901 census they are down as man & wife and their childrens' birth certs read as if they were married. She was married previously but widdowed in 1900 - there is no mention of her official married name on the birth certs. Some legal records (she was sent to prison in 1911 for child neglect) confirm that she and the childrens' father were not married. Before this, I had spent many hours trying to find a marriage . The children used their mother's married name all their life, but they were registered in their father's name, which gave me a headache or two before I found this out! So from my experience - I would seriously question if there ever was a marriage.

Hi Barbara, I had a similar problem. My great grandfather's mother was given as Sarah Ann Woodman formerly Gear on his birth cert but I was unable to find a marriage for his parents.I posted a similar thread to you & was also advised that his parents may not have ever been married. I have searched & searched & searched but have never found a record of a marriage. I believe they must have just never got married but lived as common law husband & wife. It's really annoying cos I really need a marriage cert to trace back from my 2xGGF! Liz

My g grandfather had been married before he met my g grandmother. G Grandmother has her first child by g grandfather in 1900. They had 8 more children - all seemingly to married parents - before they actually married in 1925 - then their last and only legitimate child was born!! As Heather says - look a long way in to the future!! maggie

Hi, Thank you all for replying - guess it was quite usual for this sort of thing to happen then. Don' t make life easy do they?? Just been browsing the '13 comandments' thread so now I'm not surprised by anything! Thanks again Barbara

I don't see a death for Annie Margaret before 1911 so there's your explanation as to why there's no marriage. Rose