Genealogy Chat

Current legal requirements in England & Wales.

"Licence or 'Special Licence'

This requires that one of you has lived in the registration district for at least 15 days prior to giving notice at the register office. Your partner need only be resident of or be physically in England and Wales on the day notice is given. This is a more expensive option but it then allows a marriage to take place after only one clear day of giving notice ( excluding a Sunday, Christmas Day or Good Friday). Be ready to provide certain documents to show the Superintendent Registrar these may include a passport or some other form of identification. If either of you are divorced you will need to show a decree absolute of your divorce. (e.g. you can give notice on a Monday and be married on the Wednesday)"

Religious special licence is as above posts.

http://www.walthamforest.gov.uk/index/community/register-office/marriage/special-licences.htm

What is a special licence?
This facility provides for a marriage or civil partnership to take place where one of the parties is terminally or seriously ill and not expected to recover, and therefore cannot be moved to a place where the marriage or civil partnership would normally take place.

I may be wrong and I'm happy to be corrected if I am, but I seem to remember that if you needed to get married quickly, and couldn't wait the 3 weeks it takes to have the banns read, then you could get married by special licence. For example if your beau was due to go away to war or something like that.

In my case we got married by licence, I'm not sure whether special or not. This was because we had to travel 20 miles to get a church big enough for the amount of bums on seats. All our local churches were too small. Both my hubby and I were from 'Out' of the parish, so we had to be done by licence, not banns, as nobody from the church's locality would have known us.

Dianne xx

Google special licence marriages. You will find the information there. Think things were the same in 1879 as now.

Thanks for that information, obviously a Special Licence is only for Anglican marriages and nothing to do with a Civil marriage.

Anita.

If you have a genuine connection with a particular church or chapel but you are unable to satisfy the legal requirement (see above) to marry there, you may apply to the Faculty Office for the Archbishop of Canterbury's Special Licence.
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ftp://www.facultyoffice.org.uk/U10045/public_html/Marriage.html#Special

I wonder if any one could give me any information about the Use of a Special Licence as regards to permission to marry around 1879. Where would a couple apply to get such a licence ?I think this was a Register Office Wedding.

Anita