An interesting puzzle

I did some more Hippard research. Uncle Charlie's father Mark Hippard was a bit of a puzzle, His first wife, Charlie's mother Hannah Maria Martin died and one of Charlie's sons had added Alice Lathey as Mark's second wife. The FreeBMD index showed Mark Hippard marrying Alma L Lathey in 1911, so her name was Alma rather than Alice. I presume that the family called her “Allie”.

Surname First name(s) District Vol Page
Marriages Dec 1911
Hippard Mark   Pontypridd 11a 904
Lathey Alma L   Pontypridd 11a 904 

But FreeBMD showed Mark's son Edwin J Hippard marrying Alma L Lathey in 1913,

Surname First name(s) Spouse District Vol Page
Marriages Dec 1913
Hippard Edwin J    Lathey   Pontypridd 11a 1011
Lathey Alma L     Hippard   Pontypridd 11a 1011

How could this be? Mark did not die until 1956, and why would Alma Louisa Lathey marry two men in quick succession who were a generation apart? I finally figured it out.

In 1911, Mark married Alma Louisa (Burridge) Lathey, a widow, whose husband had died two years previously. So “Lathey” was her previous married name, not her maiden surname. Then in 1913, Mark's son Edwin James Hippard, married Alma Louisa Lathey, the daughter of his father's second wife, who was technically his step-sister, although there was no blood relationship between the two of them.

It was an enjoyable puzzle, I can hardly wait for the 1921 UK Census to be released so that I can confirm my conclusions.