Hi Listers, I have returned to this list after finding that Isabella TURNBULL married her second husband, William VASEY, in 1860 in Newcastle-on-Tyne, using her maiden name. (Cert. shows her as "spinster") Her first marriage to John LOWERY in 1847 was registered in Chester-le-Street and they appeared on the 1851 census with apparently no children. In 1856 John LOWERY emigrated to Australia and it was thought that Isabella (LOWERY) had died and the record not registered. How wrong can you be? What was the situation with divorce back then? Was it only the wealthy who were able to "pull a few strings?" John LOWERY was illiterate so probably didn't make contact with any family members after emigrating. He re-married in 1862 in Victoria and the record shows him as being "single." I would appreciate some feedback and like to hear from anyone on the list who is researching these families. Diane Lowery (Melbourne)

Just to add that the defence against a charge of bigamy is that the accused's spouse has been absent for at least seven years, and is therefore presumed by the accused to be dead, even if he/she does not have positive proof of the death. However even though a person is found not guilty of the crime of bigamy, the bigamous marriage will still be void if that person had a spouse living at the time that the second marriage took place. However in such cases when the banns are published, or a notice of marriage is given to a superintendent registrar, and subsequently, when the marriage is registered, the party whose husband or wife is presumed dead should be described as a widow or widower as the case may be, so she should not have been "spinster". Stan On 28 March 2011 07:11, Diane Lowery <geminidi19@rabbit.com.au> wrote: > > Hi Listers, > > I have returned to this list after finding that Isabella TURNBULL married her second husband, William VASEY, in 1860 in Newcastle-on-Tyne, using her maiden name. (Cert. shows her as "spinster") Her first marriage to John LOWERY in 1847 was registered in Chester-le-Street and they appeared on the 1851 census with apparently no children.  In 1856 John LOWERY emigrated to Australia and it was thought that Isabella (LOWERY) had died and the record not registered.  How wrong can you be?  What was the situation with divorce back then?  Was it only the wealthy who were able to "pull a few strings?"  John LOWERY was illiterate so probably didn't make contact with any family members after emigrating. He re-married in 1862 in Victoria and the record shows him as being "single." > > I would appreciate some feedback and like to hear from anyone on the list who is researching these families. > > Diane Lowery  (Melbourne) >  ==== DUR-NBL Mailing List ==== > To Post a message to this list send it to, > DUR-NBL-L@rootsweb.com > > ==== DUR-NBL Mailing List ==== > List Web Page > http://www.communigate.co.uk/ne/durhamgenealogy/index.phtml > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to DUR-NBL-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >