A Trial for Bigamy

ricm · Post by **ricm** » 12 Mar 2012 22:21

I am trying to research one or more bigamous marriages of a distant relative (William Lawrence Doloughan). I believe the trial(s) took place in London during the period 1940-1942. I am told by a relative that their own personal records were destroyed in 1943-1944 when a bomb hit the family home; the same relative believes the court records (Central Criminal Court - but could be a different court?) may also have been destroyed during a bombing raid. According to family recollections, William was convicted of bigamy and a divorce by one of his spouses was obtained on those grounds.

I am looking for suggestions where to start. I am based in Yorkshire so a visit to London would have to be planned and arranged and would be somewhat expensive. Would there be cheaper options I could explore first? Knowing which court would have handled such a trial would be a start.

Any pointers greatly appreciated.
Ric

ID:6009

Post by **tatewise** » 12 Mar 2012 23:21

Not directly relevant, but I presume you have his two Marriage Certificates whose Indexes were easily found on FMP.
1) Rochford, Essex 1938 Jan-Feb-Mar 4A 1037 Spouse: Rayner
2) Chelmsford, Essex 1948 Oct-Nov-Dec 4A 1019 Spouse: Partington

ireneblackburn · Post by **ireneblackburn** » 12 Mar 2012 23:23

Check the newspapers, there are lots available online, Google under british newspaper archive, it is a fairly nre site run by brightsolid and they were giving some free credits so people could try it out. My library also provides free access to some newspapers online, so yours might too.

ricm · Post by **ricm** » 13 Mar 2012 02:50

Hello,

Yes I have those two marriages - and a third, less easily found it seems with Winifred Moate in Truro in 1943. The 1938 Rayner marriage was annulled because it was bigamous. The 1943 marriage was also annulled because it was bigamous too. Both women went on to remarry.

However I am not convinced the first marriage was bigamous because Winifred Rayner went on to marry Percy Hoare in 1947 under her married name (Doloughan) and that seems odd to me. Winifred Moate went on to marry under her maiden name in 1946; the maiden name suggesting the marriage to Wm Doloughan was invalid?

The suggestion to try newspapers is a useful one - thank you for that. I shall have a look.

Ric

AnneEast · Post by **AnneEast** » 14 Mar 2012 13:28

So if the 1938 marriage was bigamous there must have been an even earlier one. Have you found that one too?

As I understand it only the first wife is the 'real' one. Until she dies or divorces him, all the others are not considered to be married properly and therefore do not need to divorce the bigamist.

As for what name you use ..... that's entirely up to the individual. You can call yourself whatever you like so long as its not for fraudulent purposes. I guess that calling yourself something different to commit bigamy WOULD be fraudulent! However that would only apply to the 'husband' in this case.

Anne

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