Divorce vs BigamyHas your ancestor remarried when their first spouse is still alive? Did they divorce first, or have you a bigamist in your family history? To find out more, you’ll want to know:
My grandfather, Frederick Vizard, was the oldest of three boys. When his parents split up, his father asked him to testify in court, aged just 13. He refused, and the boys never saw their father again. Were they divorced?1) 1857 and earlier...Divorce was only possible through a private Act of Parliament. How times have changed! Of course, most people could not afford this. In fact, by 1857, only 318 had been granted in this way. Around five were to women. It’s therefore unlikely that your ancestor was divorced, unless they were very wealthy.One alternative was a decree of separation. A couple could go to the church courts and apply for one. For this, one spouse had to be found guilty of adultery or life-threatening cruelty. Importantly, neither could remarry until their spouse had died. Decrees of separation were still comparatively rare.
2) Post-1857...Things became easier. A person could get one due to their spouse’s adultery (until 1925, a wife also had to cite additional reasons). In 1858, the Court for Divorce and Matrimonial Causes was established. In 1873, it became part of the Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division of the Supreme Court of Judicature.How do I find a divorce?1) Legal records post-1857...First check the indexes. The original indexes are at The National Archives at Kew (Series J78). Copies are available at the Family Records Centre in London. If you can’t get there in person, the indexes are available online - for a fee - from www.findmypast.com (formerly known as 1837online).The indexes are hand-written books that list petitions in date order. Entries are not in strict alphabetical order, but grouped by the first letter of the Petitioner’s surname, which means that it can be time-consuming to find the case you are interested in. 
This shows the index entry for my great grandparents. Richard Vizard petitioned his wife for divorce, citing Griffiths. The case is listed after Verity, Vigors, Vincent, Von der Sahl, Vance, Varley, Van Praag, Upjohn and Villiers. Tip Remember, even if a petition appears in the index, the divorce did not necessarily occur. For example, Richard Vizard’s wife, Mary Ann, opposed the divorce, and Richard never turned up for the final hearing. The index of petitions will just give you information on where to find the divorce papers. Actual papers for 1858 to 1927 are held at The National Archives at Kew, England, in Series J77. They have not been digitised or microfilmed. You will either have to go there, or hire a researcher, using the information from the indexes to locate the record. Tip Is it worth getting the divorce details? Personally, I found the information fascinating, and I was able to flesh out details of my ancestors’ lives. I’d love to find another in my family tree. 2) Newspapers...These are always worth consulting. Many juicy facts were reported in the newspapers that were not recorded in surviving documents. For further information about using newspapers in your research, click on the Newspapers icon in the left hand navigation bar.Tip Bear in mind that the case often comes to court a long time after a petition is filed. For example, The Times covered the Vizard v Vizard & Griffith case in 1900, two years after the petition was first filed.
Was the first marriage invalid?If a divorce was not possible, you could go to the church courts to get your marriage annulled, if you had grounds. Suitable grounds included:
Was my ancestor a bigamist?Where a marriage was unhappy, one partner could simply leave. If they left the area, they could easily remarry, and no-one would be any the wiser. Some described themselves as widows or widowers, others as single.
Part of the marriage certificate of Charles Richards Waddell Watkins.
Example My great great grandfather, Charles R W Watkins, married his landlady, Mary Ann Hughes, a teacher, in 1862 at St Margaret Westminster, Middlesex. On his marriage certificate, he was described as “single”. In reality, he had a wife living in Lewes, Sussex, and seven children. There was also a seven-year rule, where if a spouse had not been seen for seven years, and was believed to be dead, the remaining spouse could remarry without fear of prosecution. Did they remarry at all?Many married couples split up, and went on to live with new partners without marrying. Sometimes they married discreetly some years after the birth of their first child. You just have to search the marriage records to find them – or not!
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