> >Assuming that he was living somewhere else with >someone else would there have been any requirement at >that time for him to make payments to support his >legal wife and children? First catch your hare. If his whereabouts could be ascertained, then yes, he could be taken to court and sued for maintenance - which was a powerful reason for a change of name, and moving well away from the vicinity. > >Would such support have been determined by a court? If >so, would a record of this still exist? Yes if he was caught . Petty sessions local to the place where the wife lived. -- Eve McLaughlin Author of the McLaughlin Guides for family historians Secretary Bucks Genealogical Society