Julia Bradshaw, Senior Curator Human History
Public records have informed our knowledge of the practice of bigamy, but how representative are these records?
In 1865 bigamy was said to be very common in Otago, New Zealand yet only four people in the province were charged with bigamy during the 1860s. Quiet bigamies, those that never became public knowledge, lurk in the background of many colonial families.
Drawing on cases discovered while researching the lives of women on New Zealand goldfields, Julia will talk about the circumstances involved, attitudes to bigamy and the effect of bigamous marriages on the people involved. This is a rare insight into who was marrying illegally, community tolerance of bigamy and the representativeness of public records of bigamy in New Zealand.
Julia will present her research at ‘Bigamy Across Boarders: Paths, Patterns, Connections’ which is being held at Macquarie University on 20 and 21 July and is free to join online. Julia will be presenting her research on bigamy in the New Zealand goldfields on 20 July during the 5.00 to 7.00 pm session, NZT. See the conference programme here.