Got Rid Of Two Husbands

March 2, 2011 · Filed Under Family History 

 

Recently I was searching the free Australian newspaper archives for information on the family of one of my paternal great grandmothers Louisa Seabrook, when I came across the headline, Got Rid Of Two Husbands.

Not having found “much dirt” on my families past so far, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but was rather let down in the end. No stories of murder or blood and lust.

The article is about Harriet Georgina Day and her husband Reginald Henry Seabrook, Louisa’s brother, who were married in 1918.

So how did Harriet Seabrook get rid of two husbands? Believing her husband, Reginald Seabrook was dead she went through a form of marriage with Tudor Adolphus Viven Bird in June, 1922.

The  problem was that the police ascertained Reginald Seabrook was still alive and the wife was charged with bigamy, but after several adjournments the prosecution was withdrawn. A sequel to the case at Townsville, was the application for divorce by Mrs. Seabrook on the grounds of desertion.

At the same time Tudor Bird succeeded on an application for a declaration that his marriage with Mrs Seabrook was null and void. It was stated in evidence that Reginald Seabrook went to the Northern Territory in 1918. The wife later heard he was dead. After marrying Bird there was a quarrel over Seabrook’s child with the result that they separated. Since then she had maintained herself and her child.

You would think that after all the marriage problems Harriet would stay single for a while, but according to the Qld BDM index, Harriet married Hamliton Kelly in 1927.

 

Tags:

Comments

4 Responses to “Got Rid Of Two Husbands”

  1. Sharon Brennan on March 9th, 2011 7:50 pm

    You’ll also find a great story about her son on Trove as well. He rescued his estranged wife from the surf not knowing it was her. I am a Seabrook relation. I remember now your message on Ancestry telling me you blogged.

    [Reply]

  2. Sharon Brennan on March 10th, 2011 7:40 am

    Back again. There is a longer version of this in the Cairns Post December 10, 1925 on page 5.
    The stories about the son is in the Courier Mail, 8 June 1950, p. 5.

    [Reply]

  3. games on December 13th, 2012 8:44 pm

    Thanks for sharing your info. I truly appreciate your efforts and I am waiting
    for your next post thanks once again.

    [Reply]

  4. Michell on May 2nd, 2013 9:55 am

    I’m not that much of a internet reader to be honest but your
    blogs really nice, keep it up! I’ll go ahead and bookmark your website to come back down the road. Many thanks

    [Reply]

Leave a Reply