Hi Marc, Carol, Julia and all An interesting thread which, apart from anything else, reminds us not to take the information on census records at face value. I wonder if the explanation could be as simple as the census forms not providing for the marital status being described as "divorced" and that the next closest description was "widow or widower". But I have occasionally seen "married - living apart". Cheers Chris -----Original Message----- From: cornish-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:cornish-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Marc Young Sent: Wednesday, 26 September 2012 4:13 PM To: cornish@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [CORNISH] Divorced women as 'widows' Good morning. I, too, have great great grandparents who did this. In one census, my gg grandmother is still at home with all the children, described as a widow. My gg grandfather is in the census in London, living with a much younger woman and a young child ( don't think the child was his ) and he is described as a widower too. It gets worse ( or better ). In the next census my gg grandfather is living in London with the widow of a deceased brother of his. Next door is my gg grandmother acting as 'housekeeper ' to a gent so she, too, had moved to London. My gg grandmother had caught up with him but in truth it seems they were both 'as bad as each other' or just happy to live just apart as friends - or irritable neighbours! Marc in UK