Genealogy Chat

One of my relatives Donald W Davis is rumoured to have had his marriage annulled (I am guessing 1920's) to a Jewish Lady on the grounds that he was not himself Jewish (or only partly Jewish). Would this sound right to anyone? Thanks in advance

Doesn't sound right at all, but depends. Was he supposed to be Jewish and found out he wasn't? Or did they just think better of the marriage after they'd tied the knot? Annulments are not the same as divorce - I know you can annul a marriage that isn't consummated (though you don't have to). I imagine the chap would have known he wasn't Jewish and that his wife was before they married. My husband's great-grandmother was Jewish but married out of her faith. nell

I would of thought that Donald would of known that he wasn't Jewish - and its just one of those family rumours, I don't suppose anyone knows if records of annulments are also kept at Kew?

Find the marriage first and see where they married, whether in a church or synagogue or register office. As I say, I think the only reason for annulment would be non-consummation, unless there was some legal anomaly. nell

a husband can get the marriage annulled if his wife was pregnant by another man at the time of the marriage I think there are a few other fairly obscure reasons too LOL

I know of a man who managed to get his 1st marriage annulled (Catholic) on the grounds that he wasn't a practising Catholic at the time of marriage and therefore not bound by the ceremony. It freed him to marry wife Number 2. Perhaps Donald's case was similar? Gwyn

I thought an annulment was a religious procedure rather than a legal one - but having just checked the dictionary, I am not now sure. Perhaps this is a 'Google' situation. I think another reason for an annulment (at least in the Catholic Church) was akin to having your fingers crossed during the ceremony. You know the sort of thing - I wasn't thinking that it was going to be for life (or whatever). How anyone ever proved THAT is beyond me however. Victoria

I think annulment was often a respectable and neat alternative to divorce. Merry and I have both delved into this subject, at depth - and come up with different answers! Annulment was of course originally religious. If you married in Church then only the Church could annul the marriage. Once Civil Registration came into being, those who married in Registry Offices could get an annulment through the civil courts. The Church needed a good-sounding reason for an annulment - non-consummation was a favourite, but there were many other reasons. Basically, you could have a marriage annulled if either party had 'known then what they know now' and would not therefore have married. For instance, you marry this lovely young girl who tells you all her family died tragically. Ten years down the line you discover that all her family went mad and were in an Asylum - grounds for annulment, everyone was terrified of any Mental Disease and assumed that it was always hereditary. Or, you give your daughter's hand in marriage to a fine upstanding young man who has 'expectations' from his father's Estate in Ireland. You discover this son-in-law is in fact an Irish itinerant - had you known that, you would not have allowed your daughter to marry. Women could annul a marriage if the husband was found to be suffering from a Venereal Disease. In fact, annulments on grounds of incompatibility of religious beliefs were fairly common and the Church made these annulments easy. Its a fascinating subject but one which there seems to be no authority for - I was discussing this with my local Vicar only yesterday and he hadnt got a clue, merely saying that he had never had to deal with one. Olde Crone

if you have a marriage annulled in the civil court it's called a Declaration of Nullity. You need to do this before you can legally re-marry. Merry