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Dead wife's sister act

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Cerynne

Cerynne Report 10 Oct 2025 17:23

I think the rest of the family disapproved of his behaviour and of this last marriage - which was legitimate but he was 41 and his new wife Clara was only 17. By that stage in his life, I think he had started to go off the rails - as well as running out of the money he had brought back from Australia in 1900.
The marriage in 1901 had been witnessed by his sister Mary Ann Henley (nee Button), but I suspect there was serious family disruption when they found (or were told) that it was unlawful. This wouldn't have been helped by his possibly hiding another relationship and three children in Dartford, Kent.

ErikaH

ErikaH Report 23 Sep 2025 16:03

He was in court accused of assaulting his mother-in-law, Ellen Johnson, in April 1904 - newspaper report on FMP

ErikaH

ErikaH Report 23 Sep 2025 15:44

Name William Henry Button
Marital Status Widower
Marriage Age 39
Birth Date abt 1865
Marriage Date 20 Feb 1904
Marriage Place Brighton St Peter, Sussex, England
Father Benjamin Button
Spouse Clara Ethel Johnson

ErikaH

ErikaH Report 23 Sep 2025 15:30

Is this connected to your BUTTON thread on Find Ancestors???

EDITED

Having checked.........yes

William Henry Button, in Brighton

https://www.genesreunited.co.uk/boards/board/ancestors/thread/1402967

ErikaH

ErikaH Report 23 Sep 2025 15:28

Names?

Annulment should only have happened if the marriage wasn't consummated……..

However, people couldn't normally afford to get divorced, so they just 'moved on'

What does the man say about his 'status' in 1904?

Marrying one's sister-in-law (or brother-in-law) may well have been unlawful, but that didn't mean it didn't happen regularly. I have instances of just such events all through the 1800's

Cerynne

Cerynne Report 23 Sep 2025 15:05

A brother of my great-grandmother married in 1888. He and his wife went to Australia in 1891, but she died in Melbourne in 1898. He returned to England in 1900, and then in 1901 he married his dead wife's sister.

Before 1907 this was unlawful, but the second marriage is still recorded and the certificate can be bought from GRO without any note that it was unlawful or annulled.

Clearly they were aware of this fact because he married again (to someone else) in 1904. His dead wife's sister was still alive and although they were living apart she continued using his surname.

Is there likely to be any documentation that the 1901 marriage was annulled - and if so, how might we find it?