When Ancestry updates a collection, we’re rarely, if ever, informed if it’s substantial.
England & Wales, Non-Conformist and Non-Parochial Registers, 1567-1936 is advertised as now containing 5,730,258 records sourced from RG4, RG5 and RG8 at the UK National Archives.
Birmingham, England, Calendar of Prisoners, 1880-1913 now has 12,454 records. The printed calendars are indexed for convicted persons and include summaries, more or less detailed, of the offence. The collection now includes years to 1922.
There are many convictions for bigamous marriages. For instance, on 15 October 1918, 40-year-old William Chester, Lieutenant with the RAF, was convicted that “On the 4th Sept., 1918, did marry Lilhan Nora Baird, his former wife being then alive.” There’s more detail on the circumstances in an article in the Birmingham Daily Post of 16 October 1918.
In my group meeting at the library a couple of weeks ago, many were surprised to hear that bigamy really wasn’t unusual. In our connected modern world, it seems impossible, but 100 years ago it was easy to just separate, move a parish/village/town over, meet someone new and remarry. Of course, hiding it long term might prove more difficult – I believe that’s why my 2nd great-uncle emigrated from England to Canada.