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Issue 10 > Casebook > Divorce and Disparity
Amber Strang digs out divorce files describing the harrowing course of events that led YFH reader Kath Mackrill to discovering her ancestor in a French asylum.
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I'd like to thank YFH for the article on divorce. For many years, I had wondered how to find out about my step grandfather's divorce. Of course, it was never talked about by my grandmother! Now, on The National Archives website, I have found the number of the relevant file and a date of 1924. I am planning a visit to Kew to get the details. The big question now is, 'was my grandmother involved?' Unlike some of the summaries, no co-respondent is mentioned in the title. I look forward to finding out.
I found the article regarding divorce cases in the January issue very interesting and it reminded me of my previous discovery of my grandmother's divorce in 1910 which I had traced in series J77 at TNA. I have been unable to obtain the full record but I was keen to check if The Times online site could help. The site was very difficult to access in part because it told me that my surname was a word could not accept!!! After I asked my wife to use her maiden name we were able to get on the site and as a result found, with some difficulty, that the decree absolute was published.
In the process I came across a problem I have encountered before. I find that my surname causes many matches on searches and the use of words like "divorce" or even the letter 'v' used in court cases likewise. Can you please give any advice on how to cut the matches down in order to obtain shorter and more concise search results.