It would have to have been a divorce as they were married, and husband John Strafford remarried in 1814. But daughter Adelina married a cow keeper, and John was a miller, so they were hardly other than 'ordinary'. I have also now found a birth for Mary Ann Johnson in Sheffield in 1818, daughter of George and Ann Johnson. George Johnson married Ann Gillot, so it would seem that the Ann Johnson was mother in law of John Daniels. But I cannot link John Strafford to any of them. Regards Margaret On 13 Aug 2007, at 21:35, Kim Groothuis wrote: Margaret I think Claire's suggestion has a lot going for it, and I think you're right to look into it. A divorce at that time would have been impossible for ordinary people. People did run off and marry other people, pretending to be widowed, but as Ann seems to have remained in touch with her children and stepchildren that seems unlikely. It's far more likely that her first, second and third husbands all died, and the relative ages of John DANIELS and his stepbrother would support that. That might sound unlikely to modern ears but being widowed three times would have been more likely in those days. ie, if Claire's suggestion is correct, Ann was married to Mr STRAFFORD and gave birth to John STRAFFORD. Mr STRAFFORD died and she subsequently married Mr DANIELS and gave birth to John DANIELS. It's quite probable that John STRAFFORD, and any other children from that married, went with her when she moved in with Mr DANIELS. Then Mr DANIELS died and Ann married a Mr JOHNSON. Alternatively STRAFFORD may have been her maiden name and she had the first John out of wedlock, but there's nothing to suggest that, it's just a posibility. She was 23 at the time and so more likely to be married. Hope this helps Kim Margaret Elliott <meelliott@btinternet.com> wrote: That is certainly an interesting theory! Thank you. Where should I look to find information about divorces at that time? Regards Margaret On 13 Aug 2007, at 18:54, Claire wrote: ok - if she was "Step Mother" to head of house then was she married to John DANIELS' father? Maybe she was married 3 times - 1st marriage to ? STRAFFORD 2nd marriage to ? DANIELS 3rd marriage to ? JOHNSON making her step mother of John DANIELS and making John STRAFFORD step brother to John DANIELS. --------------------------------- Yahoo! Answers - Get better answers from someone who knows. Tryit now. ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to WEST-RIDING- request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

I think that at that time it took an Act of Parliament to get _legally_ divorced - very expensive. More likely is separation. Chris On 13/08/07, Margaret Elliott <meelliott@btinternet.com> wrote: > It would have to have been a divorce as they were married, and > husband John Strafford remarried in 1814. But daughter Adelina > married a cow keeper, and John was a miller, so they were hardly > other than 'ordinary'. > > Margaret > > > On 13 Aug 2007, at 21:35, Kim Groothuis wrote: > > Margaret > > A divorce at that time would have been impossible for ordinary > people. People did run off and marry other people, pretending to be > widowed, but as Ann seems to have remained in touch with her children > and stepchildren that seems unlikely. > > Hope this helps > > Kim