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Multiple marriages … & no divorce

Q My great-grandmother, Sarah Maskell, born 1856 in Wollaston, Stourbridge, had been married to Daniel James (born 1851, Tividale, died 1916, possibly Wolverhampton). The marriage took place in Tudhoe, Durham, in 1874. They had four children that I know of: Elijah Alexander; Charlotte Elizabeth; Ernest John; and Thomas B (Benjamin?). They seem to have separated c1881-82. Sarah then met my great-grandfather William (Alfred?) Lamb. Their first child, William Benjamin, was born in Staffordshire; my grandfather, Thomas Athol, was born in 1900 in Tudhoe, Durham.

Daniel went on to marry twice more, claiming he was a widower, marrying Eliza Wilkes in 1892 and Fannie Robinson in 1905. I haven’t been able to find evidence of any divorce or annulment, so I can only assume he committed bigamy twice! I’ve been trying to get as much information as possible about Daniel who seemed almost to ‘commute’ between Durham and the West Midlands for marriages and births of various children.

My great-grandfather, William (Alfred) Lamb, is another shadowy figure. I’ve had no success in finding where and when he was born. The 1891 Census has his age as 38, born Stourbridge. 1901 has him as 47, born in Wales. His death certificate in 1911 has him as 62. I’ve had to be so careful not to automatically accept information from the likes of other Ancestry family historians.

One very important additional fact that I omitted was that I cannot find any evidence of marriage between my great-grandparents, Sarah Maskell and William Lamb.

Christine Couper

A Bigamy, or suspicion thereof, always adds a little spice to one’s family history!

We take divorce for granted these days but in the Victorian period it was difficult and expensive. A manual worker in an ironworks was most unlikely to be able to afford one and you would be reasonably safe to exclude that possibility. Bigamy was a feasible alternative for some and unless the perpetrator ended up in court you’re unlikely to find definitive proof either way.

‘Daniel seemed almost to “commute” between Durham and the West Midlands for marriages and births’

Sarah and Daniel’s marriage certificate (not shown) raises a few interesting questions. When Sarah Maskell married Daniel James she gave her age as 19 when in fact she was over six weeks short of her 19th