Divorce - Help!

kernowmaid

kernowmaid

Our very own Cornish Maid
No, not me ... I'm happy to carry on with my other (not better ;)) half.

My great aunt Sarah COPLEY married a John CARTER on 23 Dec 1916 (Mansfield, Notts).
And on 23 October 1939 (Cannock, Staffs) she married a Francis Leslie DUCE - the marriage certificate conveniently describes her as

Sarah Carter formerly Copley / 40 years / The divorced wife of John Carter.

How do I search for Divorce Records? I've tried the National Archives, but admit that I just don't understand their referencing system ... :confused:

Would divorce proceedings between 1917 & 1939 appear in the newspapers? Any hints on the best search terms to use?

All help gratefully received!

Jane
 
Ancestry have civil divorce records, but they only go up to 1918

My understanding is that they become available after 100 years (so it seems they are a little behind)

You could probably get a look at it if you went to Kew, I did this once for a divorce record a few years back. There may also be an option for them to copy it for you, though this normally seems quite expensive any time I ask for a quote. I cannot remember now what info I knew in advance, other than the names and a rough idea of when they divorced
 
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The TNA guide to divorce records is here:

https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/divorce/

There's a chance yours might have been archived, for example by searching at TNA I found one with a John Philip and Annie Sarah Carter in 1929 at J77/2641/2077. I don't know if that's relevant, but as the records are all in class J77 it's fairly easy to just keep trying different names or permutations.

Otherwise, divorce court proceedings might have made the local papers.
 
arthurk said:
The TNA guide to divorce records is here:

https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/divorce/

There's a chance yours might have been archived, for example by searching at TNA I found one with a John Philip and Annie Sarah Carter in 1929 at J77/2641/2077. I don't know if that's relevant, but as the records are all in class J77 it's fairly easy to just keep trying different names or permutations.

Otherwise, divorce court proceedings might have made the local papers.
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Thank you Arthur.
The 1929 case seems the only likely one - but I can't tell if it's "mine". The names aren't right (although Sarah may have added Annie to her name) - but there's no clue as to WHERE the divorce took place. I'm assuming Notts or maybe Staffs. Ordering the records could be an expensive mistake.

I've been trying to search the newspapers (BNA) but the word "divorce" pops up all over the place. And I keep getting distracted by other articles! (A woman in Birmingham was fined for impersonating a Fortune Teller - she "saw" 2 policemen arresting her!! :D)

Jane
 
kernowmaid said:
The 1929 case seems the only likely one - but I can't tell if it's "mine". The names aren't right (although Sarah may have added Annie to her name) - but there's no clue as to WHERE the divorce took place. I'm assuming Notts or maybe Staffs. Ordering the records could be an expensive mistake.
Click to expand...
Having looked into it a bit more, I suspect the one I found might not be the right one, and if it were me, I don't think I'd be rushing to order anything without exploring other possibilities first. FreeBMD has the marriage in 1914 of a John P Carter and an Annie S Pettifer, which on the face of it fits much better than your couple.

Added:
I was just having a look in the newspapers, and one of the first cases I found was this John Philip and Annie Sarah Carter - they married in 1914, lived in Middlesex and had 3 children. So not yours, then.
 
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AnnB said:
I've searched high and low in the papers, but can find nothing which would 'fit' :(
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Thank you for looking, Ann.
If YOU can't find it, I don't stand a chance!

The only article I found named a Sarah Carter as the "other woman" in another divorce case (highly likely considering the (Copley) family she comes from!)

So I'm giving up the search for now. Waiting for divine intervention ... :rolleyes:

Thank you ALL.

Jane
 
Got it! Nothing in the way of details, but at least you now know roughly when it happened :) I have looked to see if there is a report but no luck, so far. Maybe there were just too many divorces to report them all - unless there was some sort of juicy scandal involved :D
Nottingham Journal 15th November 1938
upload_2023-7-4_14-44-18.png
 
AnnB said:
Got it! Nothing in the way of details, but at least you now know roughly when it happened :) I have looked to see if there is a report but no luck, so far. Maybe there were just too many divorces to report them all - unless there was some sort of juicy scandal involved :D
Nottingham Journal 15th November 1938
View attachment 13054
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Thank You Ann! I am gobsmacked by your genius C|:-)

Jane
 
The gods are smiling on me ...

Same paper, 28 Nov 1938 - the decree nisi was granted on Saturday 26 Nov. There were 81 matrimonial cases at Notts Assizes :eek:

And it's as I suspected - Sarah left John. 2 children - I wonder why the judge split them between the parents?

Carter v Carter 28 Nov 1938 Nott Journal.JPG

Once again, Thank You Ann
Jane
 
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