Hi Listers, I did a little more research into the marriage with a deceased wife's sister law. On 3 Feb 1871 the South Australian Parliament voted to legalise the right for a man to marry his dead wife's sister, making it the first British Colony to do so. The report than went on to the argument that a woman could not legally marry her dead husband's brother and also a man could not marry his dead wife's sister's daughter even though there was no blood link. Seems the arguments were based on the Anglican Prayer Book. NSW passed the Marriage with a Deceased Wife's Sister Act on 30 April 1875. Qld had the Deceased Wife's Sister Marriage Act in 1877 and it was finally repealed in 1991. The Commonwealth Marriage Act [1961] standardised all the States. It is available to read online but with all the amendments to date it doesnt mention a clear veto to a marriage except that it protects those in an adoptive role when children. I have a clue to finding some answers to the step relationship marriage in a book by Nick Vine Hall called 'Tracing your family history in Australia - a national guide to sources' 3rd Edition 2002 Pages 342-3. Or I can check the Anglican Prayer Book. I will let the list know if I find anything. Kris Wood ----- Original Message ----- From: McGroders <gordonmc@netspace.net.au> To: <AUS-NSW-PENRITH-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, February 25, 2003 12:49 PM Subject: Re: [AUS-NSW-PENRITH] A point of Law > Hello Kristine, > My Great-great aunt married in NSW in 1855, and when her husband died, she > married his brother in 1865 in Victoria. I have both marriage certificates. > Regards, > Jill > > At 09:27 AM 24/02/2003 +1000, you wrote: > >Hi Listers, > >I wonder if anyone can help me. I have an ancestor who may have married > >their widowed stepmother in the 1860s. There is no record of the marriage > >taking place and I wanted to know if it was lawful at the time. They also > >moved out of the area to a place where they were not known. I know that > >widowed men could marry their wife's sister but widowed women could not > >marry their husband's brother and I thought this case could also be one of > >those laws. > > > > Kristine Wood > > > > > >============================== > >To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, > >go to: > >http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 > > > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 >