Does anyone on the list have a case where a mid 17th century man's brother married his wife's sister or his sister married his wife's brother? If so I would really like to hear about it. Regards, Bill Churchill USA

Bill Churchill wrote: >Does anyone on the list have a case where a mid 17th century man's >brother married his wife's sister or his sister married his wife's >brother? > > > I have been searching fruitlessly in my limited time this morning for a source to back me up on what I think I remember. I believe that traditionally in England and the English colonies it was reasoned from Genesis ("Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife; and they shall be one flesh.") that a man's wife became his blood relative, and hence all his wife's family became his blood relatives as well. Therefore a marriage between a widower and his wife's sister was incestuous, whereas the marriage of a widow to her husband's brother was not.