My maternal Grandma's family is far more complex than I ever imagined. Take my great great great Grandfather, Henry Hignell. He worked as a laborer, but ended his life in the Joint Counties Lunatic Asylum--a facility for paupers. I doubt he was a private patient, because nobody in the family had any money. His sisters were dressmakers, and one of them, Mary Hignell, was the sexton of Holy Trinity Church, Newport, in 1881. Henry's brother, John Hignell, may have had more money than his siblings which leads me to an interesting story.
In 1843, John Hignell married Rachel Prosser, in Newport, Monmouthshire. They had one surviving daughter, Ann, born in 1847. Rachel Hignell died in the first quarter of 1850. Her widower, John, remarried in December 1850, to Ann Waters, who was 11 years his senior. When I checked the Michael John transcription for Newport marriages in 1850, it stated that Ann Waters' maiden name was Prosser. So, did John Hignell marry his sister in law? That might explain why the Prosser family took 17 years to pay John the sum of 50 pounds from Rachel's estate.
On the other hand, it could have been that another relative had a life estate in the property, which would not pass to her husband until that relative's death. From the wording of the probate document, I believe it was a cash sum, not an estate.
I have mixed emotions about this. It's kind of creepy to marry your sister in law. In the 17th and 18th century, Mr. and Mrs. Hignell might have been brought before the local magistrate. All the same, I can't imagine it happening in my family--I have two married Sisters. Suppose one Sister died, and the other Sister lost her husband. I can't see the survivors joining each other in the estate of holy matrimony.
There's an interesting story here. It needs further documentation--better order John Hignell's GRO license--for the second marriage. If Rachel Prosser and Ann Prosser both have the same father, with the same profession, it's reasonable to infer they were Sisters.
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