Fr on marriage entry?

[Asa]

I have a couple of ancestors married at St James Duke Place in the City of London 22 Jan 1679/80 and the entry reads Josiah Crossly Br Eliz Beasly Sp Thomas Beasly Fr. It would be nice if this stood for father but a lot of the entries have this and the surname isn't always the same as the bride's or groom's.

Does anyone know?

[kiterunner]

Asa, I've deleted your attachment as it was the complete double page which is likely to break copyright. Also when I clicked on it, it was too small to read easily!

Here is the bit in question:

[kiterunner]

Hmm, I haven't come across anything like that before.

[Asa]

Thanks for having a look - not sure where I can find out what it is - never seen it myself either. He's clearly a relation but it's whether or not that's what the Fr stands for.

Sorry about the attachment thing:)

[Sabrina]

The earlier entries in the register have the words "gave her" after the last name - so presumably this is the man who gave the bride away, who may or may not have been a relative by the look of the different surnames. Maybe it's a Latin abbreviation?

[Asa]

That would make sense Sabrina, it would explain why the surnames so often coincided with the bride's. Thanks for that idea

[Guinevere]

That makes a lot of sense to me.

[Asa]

I think so too, Guinevere. What's your Latin like?

[Muggins in Sussex]

I think "frater" is Latin for brother - not sure that's any help tho!

[Asa]

Thanks, Muggins - the Fr appears on at least 80% of the records on that page so I don't think it can be frater. Also, I guess it might be a word derived from Latin rather than Latin itself because the records are in English.