Divorce help please

Neil McRae · Post by **Neil McRae** » Mon Jun 30, 2008 3:23 pm

Not sure where to go with this. I am searching for a record of a Divorce between William Yates and Mary Mongomery Connor which would have been sometime in the 1930s. They married in December 1931 and on Williams death certificate for April 1939 it notes he had been granted leave of divorce from Mary. They had a son in 1934 so I guess the divorce was somewhere between 1933 and 1938. I want to know the reason for the divorce and if there is one the correspondants name.

Mary was an interesting lady. We know she had 9 children and think there may be another two. 4 were out of wedlock and we know of at least three and possibly four partners she lived with. She also used a variety of different names on things like Birth certificates which has seriously muddied the waters for searching records. However the divorce mentioned in the death certificate does give her correct name.

So I know when she was born and when she died. I know most of her children but where do I go to find a record of the divorce please.
::Neil::

Post by **paddyscar** » Mon Jun 30, 2008 3:54 pm

Hi Neil:

There's a thread within the last year on divorce, which may offer up some information until someone more in-the-know than I, comes along.

http://talkingscot.com/forum/viewtopic. ... ht=divorce

Hope it helps,
Frances

eilthireach · Post by **eilthireach** » Mon Jun 30, 2008 4:48 pm

You will find this record at NAS. It must surely be the couple you are interested in, but it is very strange. It is dated 1950, but, you say, William died in 1939. There is another number in the entry ("1927") but it is not clear whether that is a date or some other identifier. If that is a date, then it would fit, but why would the divorce be being looked at or processed in 1950, 11 years after William died??? Note that the document is filed within the series of unextracted processes for the years 1935 (i.e., after 1927) to 1994 ...:

Reference Title Date
CS258 Unextracted Processes, 4th arrangement 1935-1994

Country code GB
Repository code 234
Repository National Archives of Scotland
****Reference CS258/25014****
Title William Yates v Mary M Connor or Yates: Divorce
Dates 1950
Access status Open

Description 1927

You will be able to view this at NAS in Edinburgh, or approach them* for an estimate for a copy, or you can ask someone to go and look at the record and extract the relevant information.

*You may email the West Search Room wsrATnas.gov.uk, quoting the NAS reference CS258/25014 and ask for a quotation. Just to give you an idea, I did this for a couple of divorces and was quoted 20 pounds for one and 25 pounds for the other.

nelmit · Post by **nelmit** » Mon Jun 30, 2008 5:32 pm

Hello Neil,

Have you checked the marriage entry on SP in case there is an RCE attached?

Regards,
Annette

Neil McRae · Post by **Neil McRae** » Mon Jun 30, 2008 8:50 pm

Thanks guys that is a great help. I had already downloaded a copy of the marriage certifictae from SP and there was no indication there of any attached record.

I did spend some time hunting through the NAS web site but could not find any way to locate a record or even a reference to one. Mind you I am not surprised because in general Government web sites tend to be difficult to search in. Maybe one of you could explain to me how to find such a reference if I ever need to go looking for another.

I have emailed the NAS and hopefully I will get a quote to supply a copy of the documents.

::Neil::