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Ok got it here goes
The register office Wolverhamton 9th oct 1917
Benjamin Oldfield 37yrs widower coal miner, back of Royal Exchange Inn, Chapel St, Bilston John Oldfield[deceased] tin plate worker.

Mabel Clarke,42yrs widow 37, George st Ettingshall, Bilston.william woodland[deceased] waggoner on farm.
so it looks like william was still fathering kids from the grave ha ha!
if the death you found Misty 1924 for charles is right then Mabel was a bigamist.
He may have died in the name Joseph Charles because that was his name on1871 and 1881 census
and who was Benjamin married to? the mystery deepens!!
Jackie

Ah, well now we know that Mabel was really Georgina!

Now, I wonder if we can find any more on Benny boy.

Interesting Mabel/Georgina named father on this marriage cert but not on her first to Charles Clarke, I guess maybe as her first marriage was in her home area people would have known the truth....

Who were witnesses on this one please Jackie...

And Ben a widow, that's a turn up.....

Misty x

The witnesses were H K Cooper and A E jackson haven't come across these names but they could have draged them in off the street.
We know William couldn't have been her father but as you say we noe know that georgina was mabel but why wait so long to marry.
Jackie x

I wonder why they gave different addresses on the cert.....they were living together in 1911...perhaps they were wanting to be "proper"

Maybe Ben was still married too.....

Misty x

Bit late to be proper wasn't it,
haven't found a marriage for Ben was he really married? on 1901 census he is single then after that he was with Mabel.
Jackie

Hi-ya Just want to say a big thank you for all your help mainly Misty and rootgatherer what a journey tragedy, lies sex outside marriage,illegitimate children and bigamy, but have solved the mystery of how Caz's dad was relation to the oldfields.
so thanks again and all the best
Jackie

nudge

It has been very interesting following your family. It is always good to have a challenge to keep the old brain ticking over and to add to our research experiences. It's surprising, perhaps to younger researchers, to find how many of our ancestors "lived in sin".

OHs great grandmother had seven children with four different fathers. She never married any of them even although she was free to and so were the men. She herself was the illegitimate daughter of a widow and only ever used her father's surname. OHs grandfather used the same surname although paternity had been proved in court. The grandfather divorced his wife of 18 years to marry my husbands grandmother. That was in 1920 and he got custody of six of his seven children from his first marriage. So really there is nothing new today. Our grandparents and great grandparents were there before us lol.