Marriage Licences

[Joan of Archives]

I just wondered if anyone knows a little about how/why these came about, what information to expect from them & also whether they only name the bride's father (if you are lucky) & the groom, or any other information that may help me to crack a few brick walls.

Thanks
:)

[ElizabethHerts]

Joan, some are fairly easily available and some aren't, and others have not survived, which is not at all helpful when you are starting to investigate!

We recently returned from West Sussex Record Office and they have an index of their marriage licences and I was able to identify and print off three. I didn't have time for the rest!

They are well worth having. The ones I got were two pages long and gave details such as the bride and groom's ages.

Some selected details to show you what you can expect:
"On the Eleventh day of FFebraury 1786.

Appeared personally Abraham Stilwell who being sworn upon the Holy Evangelists to depose the Truth upon his Oath deposed and saith That he is of the parish of Midhurst in the County of Sussex which hath been the usual share of his abode for Six Months last past Aged Twenty Seven Years and a batchelor And intendeth to Intermarry with Elizabeth Andrews of the parish of Linchmere in the County aforesaid which hath been the usual place of her abode for Six Months past Aged Nineteen Years and a Maiden" ....

"And at the same time appeared personally Thomas Andrew of the parish of Dorking in the County above and Yeoman who being sworn as above deposeth and saith That he is the natural and lawfull ffather of the said Elizabeth Andrew and as such doth give his Assent and consent to such her Intermarriage with the said Abraham Stillwell as aforesaid. –"

You won't necessarily get lots of details, but I have probably got about 12 now and I find them really useful.

The problem is getting hold of them!

Which county are you looking at?

[maggie_4_7]

Watching this thread with interest I have a Ashley, Northamptonshire one I'd like to get my hands on.

[Mary from Italy]

You'll ned to e-mail the Northants Record Office.

Bear in mind that most licences don't give the parents' names, unless one of the spouses is a minor and a parent gives consent to the marriage.

[maggie_4_7]

You'll ned to e-mail the Northants Record Office.

Bear in mind that most licences don't give the parents' names, unless one of the spouses is a minor and a parent gives consent to the marriage.

Yes I thought that. This is such a brick wall everything I try leads up a dead end.

I didn't know you could email them.

[Joan of Archives]

Thanks Elizabeth that is interesting. I have seen only one for mine so far. It was at Aylesbury & was near closing time so they wouldn't let me have a copy :mad:
Why is it that you always find the most interesting info in the last 5 minutes? Lol!

Mine was between the groom & his bride's father listed as "John Doe" around 1800. I thought John Doe was an Americanism but obviously not lol!

Her name was Sarah Badrick & I cannot find her baptism anywhere in Bucks.

:)

[ElizabethHerts]

Even if they aren't under age you get useful information:

Archdeaconry and Diocess of Chichester

"On the ffirst Day of August 1764
Appeared personally Thomas Andrews who being sworn on the Holy Evangelists to depose the Truth upon his Oath deposeth and saith that he is of the Parish of Cocking in the County of Sussex which has been the usual Place of his Abode for several years last past Aged Twenty ffive Years and a Batchelor And intendeth to intermarry with Elizabeth Ayling of the same Parish Maiden which has been the usual Place of her Abode for several Years last past Aged four and Twenty Years and that he doth not know or believe there is any lawful let or Impediment by reason of any Precontract Consanguinity Affinity or any other lawfull Cause whatsoever to hinder the said intended Marriage and prayed Licence to solemnize the said Marriage in the space?? of the Parish Church of Cocking aforesaid."

You will notice you have both their ages and where they live.
The second page is about the money paid over and it mentions the bridgegroom and the bride's father who stands surety.

[Nell]

Some indexes to marriage licences exist - they've got London marriage licence indexes at the Library in the Bishopsgate institute and I've seen them in records offices too.

A marriage by licence meant the couple didn't have to wait for (or have the publicity of) calling the banns. I've only seen marriages by licence in my family for couples where one or both of them was widowed.

[kiterunner]

John Doe was one of the bondsmen on my 3xg-grandparents' marriage licence too.

[Olde Crone]

I have one which makes me scream every time I look at it:

Blah blah, and Catherine Grimshaw a minor, with the permission of those whom the law requires.

Couldn't you have told me their name??????

OC

[Joan of Archives]

John Doe was one of the bondsmen on my 3xg-grandparents' marriage licence too.


Ooooo we're related Kite lol!! :d

[Tom Tom]

Well I am descended from several John Doe's, and a few James Does, William Does and Mary Does but not from Aylesbury though!

[Lancashire Lady]

I have one which makes me scream every time I look at it:

Blah blah, and Catherine Grimshaw a minor, with the permission of those whom the law requires.

Couldn't you have told me their name??????

OC
a bit off topic, and not about marriage licences either, but I thought this observation might be useful to someone.

I have been trawling the parish registers in Grinton, North Yorks, and happened to get nosy (as you do) about some of the entries that aren't of my direct line.
For a certain period around the early-mid 19th century, almost every marriage is annotated "with the consent of parents". I really didn't believe that EVERY bride could be underage. If one or other party was a widow/widower, the annotation is generally "... consent of friends". A few entries state "... consent of those whose consent is required". (This is also the wording used on a fair number of entries in an adjacent parish.)

Now this particular film has marriages up to about 1859, so for every one after July 1837 they are the "certificate" form we are used to seeing, with space for the ages of the bride & groom. (In many cases, but not always, the ages have been filled in.) On this same film you can see the vicar also completed an entry in the old-style marriage book, until it had been filled, late 1846. So I can compare both entries for several years. Both entries have been signed & witnessed and so are (usually) identical (with one or two fairly noticeable & significant errors!)
In about half the cases where the old-style book says "with the consent of parents" the certificate clearly gives the ages of BOTH parties as over 21.
"Consent of those whose consent is required" seems to be used where both fathers are deceased, regardless of the ages of the parties.

So I would throw a spanner in the works & suggest that you can't always rely on the phrase "consent of parents" to indicate that either party was underage.

[kiterunner]

Oh yes, I've certainly come across some curates etc who didn't know how to fill in the marriage certificates properly and left info out or put in stuff like consent when it wasn't necessary. I've seen "consent of friends" a few times, for instance.