The Church of England was the established church in Virginia until the Revolution and so the Anglican rules on Affinity applied. This set out a table outlining who a person might marry. As I recall, the Table of Affinity prohibited the kind of marriage mentioned and consequently I doubt that such marriages were at all common. The Table was not included in the subsequent Episcopal Prayer Book. Ian Welch, Canberra ----- Original Message ----- From: Henry Wiencek <[log in to unmask]> Date: Saturday, September 19, 2009 5:13 Subject: [VA-HIST] Marriage law & Incest (yikes!) To: [log in to unmask] > I was surprised to read in Annette Gordon-Reed's book on the > Hemingses that > in the early 19th century Virginia outlawed marriage between a > man and his > deceased wife's sister, on the grounds that marrying a sister-in- > law was > incest by affinity (not by blood). I don't know the text of the > law, but > presumably the reverse was also true: a widow could not marry her > brother-in-law. It's my impression that in the earlier days such > marriageswere relatively common in Virginia. My question for the > lawyers on the list > is: does anyone know when Virginia repealed this ban – or is it > still on the > books? Would Virginia have recognized such a marriage if it had been > solemnized in another state or country? > > Henry Wiencek > > ______________________________________ > To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the > instructions at > http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html (Dr) Ian Welch, Australian National University, Canberra ______________________________________ To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html