was there a divorce?

[darannon]

Following my previous thread about bigamy, I am now trying to establish whether my great grandmother ever got divorced from her second husband. She was Charlotte caplin (nee read/reed), and after being widowed, she married walter hand in 1898 in Mile End (mistranscribed on ancestry as haud).
Walter was born in the East End in 1838, but had moved to west derby in the 1880s. He was widowed in 1892.
By 1901 Walter is back in west derby in the workhouse, although he doesn't die until 1917.
Charlotte (using the name caplin) had a child in 1903, and another in 1905, before marrying my great grandfather in Nov 1906. She claims to be widowed, and the surname Hand isn't mentioned.
I have tried to search TNA for a divorce record in all these names, but got no results. They claim their records coverage for those years is almost 100%. I can't see anywhere else to search for the few that didn't get recorded.
I'm also unsure if maybe Charlotte could have had Walter declared dead after 7 years absence, or whether any records were kept of such an action.

Any tips would be appreciated
Darannon

[JudithM]

I'd say it is highly unlikely there was a divorce as that would have been costly and difficult to obtain - see this extract from an article on divorce at that period:
"Under the new (1857) law, women divorcing on the grounds of adultery not only had to prove their husbands had been unfaithful but also had to prove additional faults, which included cruelty, rape and incest.
• A private members' bill in 1923 made it easier for women to petition for divorce for adultery, but it still had to be proved.
In 1937, the law was changed and divorce was allowed on other grounds including drunkenness, insanity and desertion."

Again there would have been a cost involved in proving legally that she had searched and had no trace for 7 years but many people just assumed it was OK to remarry after that period.

[darannon]

Thanks Judith - going by that information I would say there was no way she got a divorce - none of them had any money, they all lived in rented rooms in the East End. It does seem a big coincidence to me that she married in 1906 - I don't know exactly when they seperated, but it was before April 1901. I wish I could go back in time and ask her what really happenned - I'm not sure that she believed the 3rd marriage was legal, as she used her previous married name and said she was a widow.
So, if I have my facts straights, Charlotte Caplin was married to walter hand until his death in 1917. And she was never really married to my great grandfather at all??! I'm seeing my dad later, he will be amazed at this, he only knew his grandparents as very strait-laced people (-:
Thanks again
Darannon

[kylejustin]

im guessing you have the certs for charlotte? she may not have married the second husband?

[darannon]

Yes, I have all charlotte's certificates, and when she marries Walter Hand she uses the surname Caplin (father given as george reed). The same again when she married John Poole, she uses Caplin and says she is a widow. I do also have her first husbands death certificate, which she registered. When I have the money I will order the second husbands death certificate, I am curious to see who registered the death. Although I doubt very much if it was her - she may have just assumed he died years before. I wish I could find out what story she told my great grandad (-:
Thanks for looking
Darannon