Hi Tony & Millie She may have bluffed her way by saying she was a widow but having a presumption of death was not automatic or easy, it took a court order, I have yet to find a single case where this happened for anyone other than the very rich, who wanted to prove ownership of assets or similar reason Nivard Ovington in Cornwall (UK) On 01/01/2014 17:13, Tony Harrison wrote: > Hi Millie > Just a thought could he have deserted Susan again after the birth of Alice > after 7 years she could have had him presumed dead allowing her to wed as a > widow. > Tony > > > My apologies. I should have added that Susan Harris remarried in 1870 to > James Hale. On her marriage Certificate she described herself as Widow.