This book explores the fascinating backstories and unexpected sequels of bigamous marriages from the 17th century to the present day.
A woman remarries after hearing that her husband has drowned, only for him to turn up alive and well. Is she now a criminal? A deserted husband, unable to afford a divorce, finds happiness in a new union. How many did the same? A conman advertises for a wife and then disappears with her lifesavings; he has already done the same to many other women. How was he brought to justice?
These are just a few of the hundreds of bigamous remarriages put under the microscope in Double Lives. As a companion volume to Double Trouble: Bigamy and the Law in England and Wales, 1604–2024, this book goes behind the law reports to reconstruct the stories of those involved. Drawing on archival sources, pamphlets, newspapers, census data, parish registers, divorce petitions and family histories, it shows the different forms that bigamy might take – accidental, consensual, deceptive or exploitative – and how bigamists’ stories in turn helped to shape the law.
Double Lives shows how bigamy should not be dismissed as a comical or victimless crime. Every case had its own complex mix of desire and deception, and, all too often, heartbreak for someone.
By:
Professor Rebecca Probert (University of Exeter UK)
Imprint: Hart Publishing
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 236mm,
Width: 162mm,
Spine: 24mm
Weight: 640g
ISBN: 9781509979486
ISBN 10: 1509979484
Pages: 320
Publication Date: 28 May 2026
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
College/higher education
,
Undergraduate
,
Primary
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
1. Introduction 2. Married or Not? Denying the Ceremony 3. ‘Being Married’: Challenging the Validity of the Marriage 4. Alive or Dead? Presuming the Fate of the First Spouse 5. The Defence of Divorce 6. The Defence of Separation 7. Accidental Bigamy: Mistaken Beliefs 8. Brief and Broken Marriages 9. Bigamy by Agreement and Double Remarriages 10. Overlapping Relationships, Affairs, and Simultaneous Families 11. Fraudsters, Fortune-Hunters, and the Super-Bigamists 12. After the Trial: What Happened Next? 13. Escaping Prosecution: Who and Why 14. The Possibly Apocryphal and the Definitely Invented 15. Conclusion
Rebecca Probert is Professor of Law at the University of Exeter, UK.
