Unmarried by Default: QUIET BIGAMY ON NEW ZEALAND'S GOLDFIELDS.

Historians of goldrushes have tended to focus on the stories of mobile, young and single men, and the history of marriage and family life on the goldfields has not received the same attention. Goldrushes strained family cohesion and contributed to the breakdown of marriages, but divorce was difficult, costly and embarrassing, especially for women. Some women and men married again without either seeking a divorce or waiting for their spouse's death and were therefore guilty of bigamy. Until recently public records have informed our knowledge of the practice of bigamy but how representative are these records? In 1863 bigamy was said to be a very common crime in Otago 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. A previous study has shown that men were more likely to be prosecuted in New Zealand. This study of quiet bigamy analyses 43 cases on New Zealand's goldfields before 1905 and finds that 65% of these marriages were made by women, many of them when there was no pressing reason to do so. This article provides information on the circumstances involved and attitudes to bigamous marriages together with an analysis of 43 cases of quiet bigamy found while researching the lives of women on New Zealand's goldfields. Three case studies are provided. This research offers insights into the gendered experiences of marriage and relationships in colonial New Zealand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]