Help re marriage witnesses

[Joan of Archives]

Oh dear I am falling over myself here looking at the new Ancestry LMA records lol!

As no father was named before 1837 my next idea is to look for the marriages of likely suspects being siblings etc :rolleyes:

To do this & narrow it down a bit I am looking at all the witnesses as well as finding 4 x g grandparents marriage & signatures in 1802 (oh joy :)) Is this a good strategy do you think?
Thanks :d

[FamilyHistoryAddict]

Hi Joan,

Pre 1837 I think we have to look at as much evidence and seek clues wherever we can. Your strategy seems perfectly logical and reasonable to me. :)

In my own family history, I've often found witnesses are brothers or sisters of the bride and groom or brothers and sisters in law.

Cheers, FHA

[kiterunner]

Yes, sounds a good idea to me, Joan. I'm just trying to work out whether one particular witness's name is a clue or a red herring!

[Joan of Archives]

OK, so would a sibling more likely to be a witness than a cousin? :confused:

I have found families with the same name they are related somewhere but I am trying to unravel the mystery lol!

I have found one with what could be his brother & his wife (my 4 x gg) as witnesses.

[kiterunner]

Yes, in general a sibling would be more likely to be a witness than a cousin, but I have certainly come across some cousins who were witnesses.