Divorce

B

Bertw-king

New Member
Hi all, New to this forum, I have a riddle, I can not solve, perhaps a kind sole can Help

My Uncle was in the Royal Navy married my Aunt in Kirkwell Orkney 1938
I have the marriage/cert that verifys this fact, however i discovered they parted, in 1946 my aunt is still alive living in Bournemouth aged 94, I asked her when & where the divorce took place, she states she left all the divorce to my uncle to deal with,
which i find strange ???, however she states she had her Divorce/papers but lost them, she re-married in 1948, but my poser is I have tried finding this divorce through all the proper channels, But I can find no record of the divorce, has any-one got any clues that I may follow up, I have hit a Brick-Wall wioth this one ????
 
Hello Bertw-king - welcome to the forum. :)

I think that the first stop would be for you to have a read of this TNA Research Guide about Divorce. Although TNA has the divorce records that took place up to 1937, you will need to scroll down until you get to the box entitled What records can I find in other archives and organisations? That will provide you with a link to Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service where you may download a form to send off with a fee.

Good luck with your research.
 
I believe I'm right in saying that divorce was unusual enough to be reported in local newspapers at the time you're talking about. Local newspapers are rarely indexed however and you'd really need an approximate date for when the court case took place.
 
Hello and welcome to the forum:)

If the divorce took place in Scotland you should find details in the National Records of Scotland catalogue.
http:
//nationalrecordsofscotland.gov.uk/research/guides/divorce-records
 
Many Thanks Jan, However i have done as you state, contacted the H.M.C.S in London Paid the £45 fee, alas no record or trace of a divorce between my Uncle & Aunt ?????, the plot thickens, if you get my drift ???? My uncle was based in Chatham, thinking he obtained a divorce there, wishful thinking alas no results, But what is more intriquing, is that my uncle re-married in 1948 & in the Condition section of the M/cert, it gives a very detailed account of a divorce as follows
Quote: "Formaly the husband of (my Aunt) formaly nee: ........ spinster from whon he obtained a divorce" alas NO dates or place divorce took place ????
Likewise when I examined my Aunts re-marriage/cert it also states & I Quote:
"The divorced wife of ..........." again NO dates or place names etc etc etc

So therefore one would assume there should be a record of the divorce, but the H.M.C.S state No Record found ???? strange, I find this very odd, as the evidence from the marriage/certs tells an-other story ???, a total mystery,
I would welcome any comments or advise from any one, with any knowledge of Divorce Many Thanks Bertw-King
 
Bertw-king said:
my uncle re-married in 1948 & in the Condition section of the M/cert, it gives a very detailed account of a divorce as follows
Quote: "Formaly the husband of (my Aunt) formaly nee: ........ spinster from whon he obtained a divorce" alas NO dates or place divorce took place ????
Likewise when I examined my Aunts re-marriage/cert it also states & I Quote:
"The divorced wife of ..........." again NO dates or place names etc etc etc
Click to expand...
That is a standard record on a marriage certificate, I'm afraid, when there has been a divorce. :( I have similar on my Gran's marriage certificate.
 
I know these days BEFORE you can remarry you have to show the Decree Nisi,would this have always been the case?. If so perhaps the places where your Aunt and Uncle each re-married may have made a notation with details?
 
THANKS, All for all imput's, May I firstly apologise for naming my Kin, was not aware, living subjects were not allowed, please accept my apologies Daft Bat
I was merely trying to illustrate the riddle I have, ?????
I simply can not understand WHY the H.M.C.S "Decree absolute Division" do not have a record of my relatives divorce, despite the fact it is clearly stated on their respective Re-marraige Cert's That a divorce indeed had taken place somewhere in the U.K ???? cica 1946
For Example: my Uncle re-married in Sunderland in 1948 Therefore I made contact with the Sunderland Reg/ty Office posing the question (I know it is a long time ago etc etc etc) would there be any evidence still available to substanciate that perhaps a Divorce Document was shown to verify he was indeed Divorced, alas no such record exists ?????, But I was assured by the S.R.O. that there would have been some evidence produced at the time of his re-marriage in 1948, & like wise for my aunts re-marriage in the same year.
I am totally bemused why I can not find any evidence of their divorce ????
I have in the past found other members of my family's past divorce's ???
Am I missing some thing,????? I am left scratching my head, sorry for all the prattle, I would welcome any comment or advise many thanks
 
Hello Betw,
All the info above seems to be fairly comprehensive searches. The only things I can think of are
(a) are you sure that either your aunt or uncle actually applied for the decree absolute? AsI understand it, the decre nisi is issued automatically after the divorce has been through the court process but there is a specified delay before the divorce becomes final. If neither of them remembered to apply for the decree absolute, perhaps there is no record of the divorce (if only the final papers are kept in the court records). Posts above mention decree nisi needed for re-marriage, & that's ok, but I don't think that's the end of the process. Also, how diligent were the Registrars or vicars, or whoever conducted the second marriages, in verifying the information given to them about a divorce? As we know, many Registrars just wrote what they were told, e.g. about age, or X's father's name, or occupation.

(b) Human error - the papers have been misfiled somewhere, and are now lost forever gathering dust in some dingy cellar :eek: :D
 
Searching Google using the search terms

divorce records destroyed

brings up as the first hit "HMCTS County Court Record and Disposition". This says that Divorce files are destroyed after 18 years: "At the 18 year point strip out decree nisi & absolute and retain for a further 82 years (i.e. a total of 100 years) and then destroy".

My understanding is that the records are only held by the court that granted the divorce and not elsewhere. Therefore you'll have a heck of a job identifying where the papers are unless you already know in which court they are kept. There isn't a central register as far as I know and a Register Office would not have any paperwork concerning a divorce. All the Registrar needs for a remarriage is to see the Decree absolute.

It's also worth noting that The National Archives state that after 1937 less than 0.2% of divorce case files survive (i.e. papers other than the 2 decrees)>
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/looking-for-person/divorce.htm

Edit: Apologies to Daft Bat who has already pointed you to this!
 
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Hi Bert
Found mention on your Uncle and Aunts marriage on familysearch,no where else though. Also found two more marriages one 1948 as you know and another in 1965, followed by your Uncles death in 1976. No luck with the divorce. Could the divorce have occurred in India? Or as Flora mentioned #9 misfiled and lost
 
Bertw-king said:
For Example: my Uncle re-married in Sunderland in 1948
Click to expand...

I see from the the British Newspaper Archive that the "Hartlepool Mail" was printing details of divorces granted in Durham in 1948. They were not confined to Hartlepool and may well mention that of your uncle and aunt's. I don't know your uncle's name so cannot take this any further.

Edit: Even better, the Sunderland Echo newspaper was doing the same.
 
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