Hi All: I occurs to me, after participating in the discussion about marriages on this list, that common-law marriage may be the reason why a number of people whose obit says that are survived by a spouse don't show up in the NS Vitals database. I.e., the database contains, almost by definition, only solemnized marriages. In the US, in those fifteen states (plus the District of Columbia) where common-law marriage is still recognized, one of the requirements for it to be a legally valid marriage is that the couple must present themselves to the community as Mr. and Mrs. So-and-so, husband and wife. Now I know that Canada's laws regarding common law marriage are different, but I wonder if that's how a number of the people who show up in various documents as "Mrs. So-and-so" got to be same. -----Bob H-----

Who knows? Maybe some of those Canadians who married each other possibly showed up as married in USA, or even in Europe, during World War II, and that's why their marriages didn't show up in Canadian records. They didn't show up in the Canadian records because they had already been married in USA, or Europe. I have relatives in Nova Scotia, where the wife was born in Holland, and the husband, Canadian mililtary, was born in NS, all this during World War II. In order for the Canadian military to pay for the Dutch war bride's boat passage to Canada, they probably got married in the Netherlands, and therefore, her passage to Canada, as the wife of a Canadian military man, was paid for by the Canadian military. Certainly a financial savings. Certainly there were many more World War II war brides, than there were common-law-marriages, in those days. If the missing marriages don't show up, I'd at least look in USA for their marriage records, unless none of them had ever been as adults to USA. My own maternal grandparents, both Canadian born and raised, were married in Boston, Mass. USA in 1899. I queried the City of Boston for their marriage record. It wasn't there, in the Boston records. Consequently, I queried the Boston, Mass. State House on Beacon Street for the marriage record. They found it. My grandparents had been married in Hyde Park, Mass. In 1899 Hyde Park was a separate entity, and not part of the City of Boston then. Hyde Park became part of the City of Boston some time after their 1899 marriage. That's why their marriage record did not show up in the City of Boston marriage records. I hope my experiences will help someone. Jean (MacGregor) Simon Huntsville, Alabama ----- Original Message ----- From: "Bob Hegerich" <bobh36@cox.net> To: <NOVA-SCOTIA-L@rootsweb.com> Cc: "Lunen-Links" <LUNEN-LINKS-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, April 19, 2007 12:04 PM Subject: [NS-L] Missing Marriages in Vitals DB > Hi All: > > I occurs to me, after participating in the discussion about marriages on > this list, that common-law marriage may be the reason why a number of people > whose obit says that are survived by a spouse don't show up in the NS Vitals > database. I.e., the database contains, almost by definition, only > solemnized marriages. > > In the US, in those fifteen states (plus the District of Columbia) where > common-law marriage is still recognized, one of the requirements for it to > be a legally valid marriage is that the couple must present themselves to > the community as Mr. and Mrs. So-and-so, husband and wife. Now I know that > Canada's laws regarding common law marriage are different, but I wonder if > that's how a number of the people who show up in various documents as "Mrs. > So-and-so" got to be same. > > -----Bob H----- > > ---------------------------------------- > Basic List Commands: > > 1. To post to the list > Send a message to: > NOVA-SCOTIA-L@rootsweb.com > > 2. How to unsubscribe > a. List mode: Send a message to NOVA-SCOTIA-L- > request@rootsweb.com that contains only the word > unsubscribe > > b. Digest mode: Send a message to NOVA-SCOTIA-D- > request@rootsweb.com that contains only the word > unsubscribe > > 3. How to subscribe > Send an email containing only the word > subscribe > to NOVA-SCOTIA-L-request@rootsweb.com > > 4. How to change to Digest mode > a. Unsubscribe from List mode (2.a. above) > b. Subscribe to Digest mode > Send an email containing only the word > subscribe > to NOVA-SCOTIA-D-request@rootsweb.com > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to NOVA-SCOTIA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > >

Hi Jean: No, the ones I am referring to are ones where we are pretty certain that, both before and after the marriage, the couple was living in NS (in my case, usually in Halifax County). Certainly misspellings, mislocations, mistranscriptions, etc, account for some portion of these, and with a little effort and creativity, I seem to have found a goodly number of same and reported the mis-whatever back to NSARM. But there are still a bunch that defy location in the Vitals Database and, for that matter, almost always in every other records source I have been through--parish registers, marriage bonds, you name it. :-) -----Bob H----- ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jack Simon" <rjmsimon@knology.net> To: "Bob Hegerich" <bobh36@cox.net> Cc: <NOVA-SCOTIA-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, April 19, 2007 2:11 PM Subject: Re: [NS-L] Missing Marriages in Vitals DB > Who knows? Maybe some of those Canadians who married each other possibly > showed up as married in USA, or even in Europe, during World War II, and > that's why their marriages didn't show up in Canadian records. They > didn't > show up in the Canadian records because they had already been married in > USA, or Europe. I have relatives in Nova Scotia, where the wife was born > in > Holland, and the husband, Canadian mililtary, was born in NS, all this > during World War II. In order for the Canadian military to pay for the > Dutch war bride's boat passage to Canada, they probably got married in the > Netherlands, and therefore, her passage to Canada, as the wife of a > Canadian > military man, was paid for by the Canadian military. Certainly a > financial > savings. > > Certainly there were many more World War II war brides, than there were > common-law-marriages, in those days. > > If the missing marriages don't show up, I'd at least look in USA for their > marriage records, unless none of them had ever been as adults to USA. My > own maternal grandparents, both Canadian born and raised, were married in > Boston, Mass. USA in 1899. I queried the City of Boston for their > marriage > record. It wasn't there, in the Boston records. Consequently, I queried > the Boston, Mass. State House on Beacon Street for the marriage record. > They found it. My grandparents had been married in Hyde Park, Mass. In > 1899 Hyde Park was a separate entity, and not part of the City of Boston > then. Hyde Park became part of the City of Boston some time after their > 1899 marriage. That's why their marriage record did not show up in the > City > of Boston marriage records. > > I hope my experiences will help someone. > > Jean (MacGregor) Simon > Huntsville, Alabama > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Bob Hegerich" <bobh36@cox.net> > To: <NOVA-SCOTIA-L@rootsweb.com> > Cc: "Lunen-Links" <LUNEN-LINKS-L@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Thursday, April 19, 2007 12:04 PM > Subject: [NS-L] Missing Marriages in Vitals DB > > >> Hi All: >> >> I occurs to me, after participating in the discussion about marriages on >> this list, that common-law marriage may be the reason why a number of > people >> whose obit says that are survived by a spouse don't show up in the NS > Vitals >> database. I.e., the database contains, almost by definition, only >> solemnized marriages. >> >> In the US, in those fifteen states (plus the District of Columbia) where >> common-law marriage is still recognized, one of the requirements for it >> to >> be a legally valid marriage is that the couple must present themselves to >> the community as Mr. and Mrs. So-and-so, husband and wife. Now I know > that >> Canada's laws regarding common law marriage are different, but I wonder >> if >> that's how a number of the people who show up in various documents as > "Mrs. >> So-and-so" got to be same. >> >> -----Bob H----- >> >> ---------------------------------------- >> Basic List Commands: >> >> 1. To post to the list >> Send a message to: >> NOVA-SCOTIA-L@rootsweb.com >> >> 2. How to unsubscribe >> a. List mode: Send a message to NOVA-SCOTIA-L- >> request@rootsweb.com that contains only the word >> unsubscribe >> >> b. Digest mode: Send a message to NOVA-SCOTIA-D- >> request@rootsweb.com that contains only the word >> unsubscribe >> >> 3. How to subscribe >> Send an email containing only the word >> subscribe >> to NOVA-SCOTIA-L-request@rootsweb.com >> >> 4. How to change to Digest mode >> a. Unsubscribe from List mode (2.a. above) >> b. Subscribe to Digest mode >> Send an email containing only the word >> subscribe >> to NOVA-SCOTIA-D-request@rootsweb.com >> ------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > NOVA-SCOTIA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >> >> > > > > > -- > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG Free Edition. > Version: 7.5.446 / Virus Database: 269.5.4/768 - Release Date: 4/19/2007 > 5:32 AM > >