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man marrying deceased wifes sister

Posted by Judith on 31/12/2022, 1:03 pm

I have a situation where a man married his dead wifes sister before the 1907 act allowed it. They were both widowed at the time.
They married by licence, giving the rectory of the church they were married in as their address. It was interesting to note that this was the same church as his first marriage, but different vicar.
Is this unusual, or was it a common practice allowed among the "lower" orders because no inheritance/wealth involved? or did they "get away with it because the surnames were different?

Re: man marrying deceased wifes sister

Posted by Karen Newman on 7/1/2023, 8:39 am, in reply to "man marrying deceased wifes sister"

I'm pretty sure I have a couple instances of this in my tree (pre-1907).

I have found one of them from memory - not in Devon and 20 years apart in different churches, though.

I think that the (unmarried) sister became 'housekeeper' to her brother-in-law and looked after him and her sister's children - and he eventually married her.

Re: man marrying deceased wifes sister

Posted by Judith on 8/1/2023, 10:00 pm, in reply to "Re: man marrying deceased wifes sister"

Thanks Karen, nice to know it was not uncommon, in my case he took on several children, whilst only having one of his own. Funnily enough two of the cousins had the same Christian names, so would have been a bit confusing at times.

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