Was my grandad a bigamist?
QWhen I started researching my family tree, little did I know that one of the most intriguing characters would be my grandfather! I knew Athole Breadalbane Gregor Menzies was born in 1900, my grandmother was Lilian Ethel Edith Allan, and my father, Alan Douglas, was born in Camberwell, London, in 1931.
I then discovered that Athole had worked as an attendant at Menston Asylum in West Yorkshire. In 1924, he was living in Swarcliffe, Yorkshire, with his parents. Athole married Elsie Harper in Otley the same year and they had a son, Atholl Alan Menzies, in 1925.
In July 1925 Athole stole money in Otley and was sentenced to two months in jail. He stole money and a till in St Albans in March 1926, and in June 1927 was found guilty of indecent assault and sentenced to two years with hard labour.
Athole was living with my grandmother (under her maiden name) in Bermondsey in October 1930. My father was born in May 1931, and by October that year, the electoral roll shows Lilian’s name as “Menzies” although I can find no marriage. A daughter was born in February 1933, and a second in April 1938.
However, on 10 March 1937 Athole married Margaret Barker in Essex! The certificate records him as a “widower” aged 36, and Margaret as a “spinster”, aged 19. They are both living in Walthamstow, and no father’s name is given for Margaret.
In 1935 and 1936, Athole is living with Lilian in Chipley Street, Deptford, but in 1937 he is living in Harrow, while Lilian is still at Chipley Street. In 1939, he is back at Chipley Street. My family were bombed out in the Second World War and moved to Guildford, Surrey, where my grandfather died in 1960.
I can find no trace of Margaret before or after her marriage – can you help me learn more?
Jane Deeley
AIn order to check whether Athole was a bigamist, you should look into whether the details he gave on his second marriage certificate (to Margaret Barker) are correct. Significantly, he stated that he was widowed, not divorced. This would suggest that his first wife, Elsie Harper Menzies, had died by 1937. I checked the General Register Office (GRO) death index and found the death of an Elsie Menzies (born 23 January 1898) registered in the December quarter of 1975 in the Claro district of North Yorkshire. It would be worth ordering this certificate to check whether this was the same person.
The marriage to Margaret Barker does appear surprising, particularly when Athole seemed to be settled with your grandmother in the 1930s. A clue on the marriage certificate is that Margaret’s father’s name is not given, implying Margaret was illegitimate. If this is the case, then the age she provided suggests that she was born around 1918 to a mother whose maiden name was probably Barker. I searched the GRO birth index and found the birth of a Margaret Barker in the March quarter of 1918 in Hackney – so not far from Walthamstow.
Your grandfather was back in South London by 1939, suggesting his relationship with Margaret had dissolved between the marriage in 1937 and 1939. I checked the GRO marriage index, to see if Margaret married again after 1939. I found the marriage entry of a Margaret Menzies to a John T Smith in “Essex SW” in the September quarter of 1940.
Elsie and Margaret may have descendants you can contact, who may be able to provide further details. Emma Jolly