Hello all, I posted this a few weeks back and wow did it cause a few ripples-! Thanks for those who responded. My friend, for whom I had taken on a search of his ancestry, was totally ignorant of his late father’s slight evasion. His father had been married previous to marrying his mother. The problem was the divorce from his first wife had not come through when he married his second in 1948. My friends mother is still alive and thought it quite amusing. Clearly she knew about it and had thought her husband had told his son about the first marriage, which he hadn't. Consequently this produced the ‘double’ marriage registration 1948 and 1950. As a side to this revelation my friend found out that he has a step sister. Then I came across another ‘double marriage’ puzzle, this time amongst my own Gatenby research. I have been researching the Yorkshire name of Gatenby for 20+ years with over 2500 records, amongst which I had a marriage of a William Gatenby to Ann Blackburn in Kirby Hill near Boroughbridge in1823. This record had been known to me for several years where William moved around Yorkshire serving as a Baptist minister. Last month I came across another marriage of a William Gatenby to Anne Blackburn in Leeds 1822, including a view of the church record. At first I thought they must be the same couple, i.e. identical names, but wondered again why they would marry twice. However after a thorough search of my records I realised it wasn’t the same couple. I had a record of a William and Ann, marriage about 1822 (based of children ages in 1841 census) location Bradford, but no surname of Ann and no marriage record. The parish record image has his occupation as a wool sorter so clearly a different William. So now I had their marriage record and the answer to this puzzle. The moral of this story is don’t assume anything, even when the facts looks quite feasible to accept. The second William died before 1830 and Anne re-married, but oddly she is recorded as a Spinster on this record despite having 3 Gatenby children in the house-! Regards Mark Mark Gatenby in Middlesbrough UK [email protected] The Gatenby’s of Yorkshire www.gatenby.org.uk > On 23 Nov 2014, at 22:26, Mark Gatenby <[email protected]> wrote: > > Hello all, > > Has anyone come across a marriage being registered twice? > > Researching for a friend, I have just found his parents marriage clearly registered both in Bootle Lancs Q4 1948 and also in Shoreditch London Q4 1950. > Their respective names are quite unusual so it must be the same couple. > > How can this happen? > > I suppose this can only be confirmed from obtaining a copy of both certificates…. > > Mark > > The Gatenby’s of Yorkshire > www.gatenby.org <http://www.gatenby.org/>.uk > > Mark Gatenby in Middlesbrough UK > > > > >