At 07:31 PM 11/5/2000 +0100, you wrote: >In June 1851 Edwin SHIPWAY of Leighterton married Aletta Lovinia THOMPSON of >Hawkesbury at Hawkesbury. A copy of the parish register is held. > >Edwin's brother had previously married Aletta's sister. > >Later that year they emigrated to Aus. > >After arriving in Aus it appears that Edwin and Aletta went their separate >ways and married others. Both listing the same parents and stating >bachelor/spinster. > >There are no records of other individuals with the same names. Extensive >research has been done by a number of people into this couple. > >Have listers any experience of this ? > >Were "Marriages of Convenience" of this type normal for Gloucestershire >emigrants ? > >Any thoughts comments wetc would be gratefully received. > >Geoffro >The Pond Dipper > G'day Strangely enough I found another example just this week among another entry on my GLS Immigrants to Oz Index. Here the couple from Horsley emigrated to Sydney under the Bounty Scheme in 1839; they were both very young - groom 19, bride 18. Evidence of marriage has not been looked for but they definitely came as a married couple. Groom married again in 1841, bride in 1842. There is absolutely no doubt that this is the same couple as their parents' names are given on emigration and again on death. I have not checked the groom's remarriage yet but the bride definitely said she was a spinster when she remarried. I suggested to the descendant that a) the pair may have been more acceptable as emigrants as a married couple (or may have felt they would be) or b) there was opposition to their emigration separately (perhaps because of their age) which they overcame by marrying. I always suggest to descendants that they should be wary of information given by emigrants about themselves on emigration if it was the kind that could have affected either their suitability as emigrants or the level of fare they may have had to pay. That is, it may have been unlikely that emigrants would lie about their mother's name or their birthplace; but they may well have told fibs about their age, marital status, occupation or the ages of their chn if it meant the difference between being able to emigrate cheaply or not being able to emigrate at all. I have many other examples of married men (and women) emigrating as single people (women sometimes under their maiden names) under cheap assisted fares and then bringing their spouse/chn out by paying for them themselves once they could afford it; or even waiting a number of years until the chn were eligible for emigration themselves as adults. Regards Kaye Kaye Purnell <kayepur@ozemail.com.au> Ancestors from GLS who came to Oz? Database kept on GLS arrivals to AUS pre 1888. Entries happily accepted; searches done. Visit my site at <http://www.ozemail.com.au/~kayepur>. Snail mail to 15 Balla Machree Way, Gymea Bay NSW 2227 AUS, including SSAE or 1 IRC.