Thread: George Albert Frost... Previous Wedding?

Hi, I have recently been looking for information for my father’s ww1 war record at the National Archives site where I came across a Divorce Court record for George Albert Frost the same as my father’s name. Rumour was that my father had been previously wed before marrying my mother, Dorothy Atkins in 1926 and that there was “no issue” from this union. This was a subject that was never talked about and certainly not “in front of the children”. As a consequence I was quite intrigued when I came across this record and after doing a bit of checking found that their ages were similar.
My puzzle is, how can I authenticate that I have the right George Albert without incurring costs from New Zealand for certificates of possibly the wrong person?

[h=3]Court for Divorce and Matrimonial Causes, later Su... J 77/1274/8861 [/h] Divorce Court File: 8861. Appellant: George Albert Frost. Respondent: Matilda Frost. Type: Husband's petition for divorce [HD]. . Divorce Court File: 8861. Appellant: George Albert Frost. Respondent: Matilda Frost. Type: Husband's petition for divorce

Hi Len,

It seems unlikely that you'd be able to take it further without incurring costs of some sort, unless you can find anyone going to Kew willing to do a lookup for you.

However, ordering a digital copy of the document from Kew is relatively cheap when compared to asking the Principal Registry for a copy of a decree absolute (which was £60-odd last time I checked).

The Kew document is from 1916. I believe (though am not completely sure) that you had to be married a minimum of three years befor you could get a divorce which means that the marriage would have to be 1913 or before. Does this fit with your father's age?

Having said that, there is a marriage 3rd quarter 1915 for George A. Frost to Matilda Blaby, Pancras (London)! The only other likely marriages I can find are George Frost to (possibly) Matilda Grove, Bury St Edmunds (Suffolk) Dec 1888 and George Frost to (possibly) Matilda Fanny Webb, Lambeth (London) Jun 1896.

Have you found your father in the 1911 census? And how did you find that the ages of the divorced man and your father were similar?

Good luck.
Pam

Hi Pam,
Thanks for your reply. Family rumour has it that Geo. had been married previous to marrying my mother and there had been no issue from that wedding. I have a record of his Medal card from the army and have since found that he was wounded in France early in the war and that he was home on leave in London in 1915. In correspondence with the Army Museum of his regiment this has been confirmed. I too found the registration of the marriage to Matilda Blaby and also a birth registration of the same name in Marylebone in 1893, my father's birth year being 1890. Unfortunately the BDM does not give place of birth for either party and it is this confirmation that I want to verify I have the right person.
Thanks again,
Len.

There is a birth registration for a Joan E. Frost 2nd quarter 1916 in Croydon, whose mother's maiden name was Blaby.

Do you know your paternal grandfather's name? There is a copy of George and Matilda's marriage cert available on Ancestry which would give the father's name for you to verify against your own father's name - if you don't have a subscription I'm sure there are plenty of people here who would look it up for you. Sorry but I don't have a subscription or I would do it myself.

Pam

I also meant to say that from the marriage cert I found there, George's year of birth was 1890.

George Albert Frost (soldier) married Matilda Blaby, 4th Sept 1915, his father was also George Albert Frost (deceased)

No problem, Elaine. I'll take a look at the witnesses names.