Archibald Wayne RAFTERS[1]
1939 - 1996 (57 years)-
Name Archibald Wayne RAFTERS Birth 1939 Halifax, Halifax, NS 
[2] Gender Male Death 8 May 1996 Windsor, Essex, ON [2] Person ID I64684 A Few Relatives of Bob and Mary Hegerich Last Modified 23 Nov 2011
Father Archibald Edward RAFTERS, b. 1917, NS d. Bef 1996, NS (Age < 78 years) Mother Alice Beatrice MUNROE Family ID F24614 Group Sheet | Family Chart
Family 1 Pauline Joan ROBINS Children 1. Karen P. RAFTERS 2. Michael RAFTERS 3. Susan RAFTERS d. Bef 1996 Family ID F25708 Group Sheet | Family Chart Last Modified 31 Jan 2026
Family 2 Janet (--?--) Marriage Bef 1996 Canada - Janet WARD's marriage to Archibald RAFTERS is a matter of contention. As understand it, under the laws of the Province of Ontario, even though Archibald and Janet apparently met the other requirements for a common-law marriage, they could not legally enter into a common-law marriage by reason of the fact that he already had a wife. However, his obituary notice lists Janet as his wife and it appears that, when Archibald died, since he was a military retiree, Janet claimed and received spousal benefits as his common-law wife.
Now in at least one province, i.e., Saskatchewan, married persons are allowed to have multiple spouses at the same time when one conjugal union is a civil marriage and the other conjugal union is a common law marriage. So, although this is a guess, it would appear that the Government of Canada felt it could not deny benefits in one province that it would have to pay in another, given the same set of circumstances.
Thus whether or not Janet WARD should be deemed the wife of Archibald RAFTERS appears to depend on what question is being asked, and for what purpose.
Family ID F31959 Group Sheet | Family Chart Last Modified 31 Jan 2026
- Janet WARD's marriage to Archibald RAFTERS is a matter of contention. As understand it, under the laws of the Province of Ontario, even though Archibald and Janet apparently met the other requirements for a common-law marriage, they could not legally enter into a common-law marriage by reason of the fact that he already had a wife. However, his obituary notice lists Janet as his wife and it appears that, when Archibald died, since he was a military retiree, Janet claimed and received spousal benefits as his common-law wife.
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