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Married - AGAIN

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MarkVent

MarkVent Report 13 Dec 2007 11:31

HI,

I'm researching my Great Grandfather James GRAY now it seems that he and his first wife married twice.

I have a certificate of marriage for August 1856 for James GRAY to Elizabeth Mary COCKING and another one for April 1859

In the first James is listed as a soldier and in the second as being in 3rd Battn Grenadier Guards (which he was) their ages are simply given as "full" and the fathers names appear consistent (although James listed his father as James rather than as Thomas)

am I barking up the wrong trees ? could they / would they have gotten married twice (they are down as bachelor and spinster on both certificates).

I'm really confused .. can you help me untangle it ?

Mark.

KeithInFujairah

KeithInFujairah Report 13 Dec 2007 11:39

I wonder if this is a case of marrying underage in the army? I believe there was a mainimum age limit before which they could not marry (or marriage would not be recognised). If he was under that age, the first marriage would not be recognised by the army and he would have to have married again when of age to enable his wife to receive pensions etc.
Hope that makes sense.

LindainHerriotCountry

LindainHerriotCountry Report 13 Dec 2007 12:13

I have a similar case.
The second marriage occurred before the soldier was due to be sent abroad. In order for the wife to receive an allowance while he was away, they had to provide a marriage cert. It seems fairly common to have lost it, especially as most of them where illiterate.
The common practice seems to have been to go off and get married again as this was much easier than applying for a replacement certificate. No one seemed to check up on them. I definitely have the marriage for my couple for that reason.

Linda

MarkVent

MarkVent Report 15 Jan 2008 16:30

Great, this certainly makes sense, what with the Crimea about to unfold and he being in the Grenadiers which were at the head of most of the battles.

The odd thing is that on both certificates they were of "full age" and going by birth dates he was 25 or so and she was 22. I suspected a possible loss of certificate and certainly if this was required for the pension etc it makes sense.

Many many thanks for your assistance on this.

Mark.