Desertion

[Helen Smith Too]

If a woman was deserted by her husband, does anyone know if there is likely to be any record of it anywhere?
This particular woman was pregnant at the time and had at least one other young child. It was 1854 and she wasn't living in her 'home' parish.

[Merry Monty Montgomery]

Only if she remarried and it was known this was following a desertion (I think you had to have not heard from your spouse for seven years).....there should be some indication on the marriage record. Other than that, I don't know :o

[Helen Smith Too]

She remarried in 1864 (after having 2 children with her new hubby). The marriage cert states that she was deserted.

Thanks to the Freereg site and a helpful Canadian wbsite, I'm now 99% positive that her 1st husband took off with her cousin.

He remarried on the 20th Aug 1854 in Canada, while 1st wife has baby on the 23rd.

Thought she may have had to apply for poor relief or some such. Her parents were dead and her parents-in-law died the following year.

[Phoenix]

If she had to claim poor relief - eg go into the workhouse, they would check that the obvious provider wasn't around. This happened to best mate's ancestor in the 1870s and the record gave details of the rent they'd paid for the house they rented, who her husband had worked for and how it might be possible to get hold of him.

[Orangeblossom]

My GGrandfather deserted my GGmother just a few months (July) after they married (March) and had a baby (May). Thankfully, this was in 1919 and I have a newspaper cutting from the time.
She took him to court over it, however he was not charged as the judge decided he was suffering 'Shell Shock' after coming back from WW1. Neither remarried.

I don't know if there'd be anything like this back then, but it's worth having a look to see if there are any local newspapers of the time.