Genealogy Chat

I'm really thick when it comes to son-in-law, brother-in-law and complex relationships. In my tree, somebody was married to her brother-in-law; what does this mean???

Could her sister have died and she married her dead sisters husband? Gloria

That atleast makes sense, but I will have to check if her sister died before they married. Is there any other possibilities? Can you explain to concept of marrying your own brother-in-law? I'm an idiot...

There was a thread on here not long ago about it.I will try to find it and nudge it up for you. Gloria

Nowadays in-laws refer to people who are connected to us by marriage, so a brother-in-law would be your sister's husband OR your spouse's brother. But in Jane Austen's time (early 19th c.) in-law was used to denote a step family. Marrying the sibling of your dead wife was illegal as it was thought to be against biblical law - which is why Henry VIII said his marriage to Catherine of Aragon was doomed, as she'd previously been married to his brother Arthur. In practice, I think a lot of men married their dead wives' sisters, partly because these women would be already known to them, it would help keep property in the family etc. nell

One of hubby's rellies married his dead wife's sister in 1840's.

My wife's grandmother married her dead sister's husband (widower).

Yes, in mine too. My g.g.grandfather married his dead wife's sister in 1851. They didn't appear to worry about the Law, as mine aren't the first I've heard of - and it was in Church. Perhaps they told porkies LOL Jan xx

Don't know if laws were different in Canada, but my g-g-grandfather also married his wife's sister in 1871, two years after his first wife died. I'm not sure how that worked, as it appears that all of her side remained in England -- perhaps he sent word back to England? He had 4 children with the first wife and none with the second.