Genealogy Chat

I haven't been able to find the answers to these two queries, perhaps someone far knowledgable knows.

(1) The details in the GRO marriage certificate is quite informative, but what information is recorded in marriage Parish Registers, apart from the date and names of the bride and groom? Witesses?

(2) Secondly, knowing the divorce records aren't readily available, well not online, would a second marriage circa 1912 use the phrase 'formerly known as', as a way of indicating one of the parties was divorced?

Presumably if the second marriage was of someone who had been widowed, the marital status would indicate that.

For one of mine

Elizabeth late Smith, formerly Long

So Elizabeth Widow of Smith,
birth name Long

Lindsey - thank you so much for that snippet, at least I now know that 'late' refers to the status of being a widow(er).

By chance does the same certificate indicate her 'condition' as spinster or something else?

After 30/6/1837, the info recorded in a PR is the same as on an m.cert if the PR is kept by an authorized person. If not, (like maybe it's one kept by a non-conformist sect pre-1898, or by an RC priest pre-1980-ish), then like a pre-1837 marr rego, it can contain anything the priest wished to record. The pre-1837 regos typically record the names of the bride and groom, the place & date of the marr, whether the marr was by banns or licence, and maybe the names of 2 witnesses. Often the marital status and home parish of the 2 main parties was noted, as was the name of the priest officiating.

Late has evrything to do with the current status of the name (i.e., whether it's still being used or not) and nothing to do with why it's not being used.
This is true in general use, so if I say, "Tony Blair, the late PM of the UK" it says nothing abt him being dead, and everything abt him no longer being PM.

So Elizabeth Jones, late Smith, formerly known as Long says nothing abt Elizabeths current or previous marital status. She could have taken the name Smith when she wed Mr Smith, but taken the name Jones when she wed Mr Jones, or shacked up with him - so Mr Smith might be dead, divorced or still living. From this e.g., it's even possible Mr Smith was her stepdad, and she took his name before she wed Mr Jones.

One of my marriage certs from 1863 justs gives her current married name and widow but her father is named, so at least I knew what her maiden name was

They had lived together as man and wife since 1837 so dont know why they bothered :-D

jax

Mgny - thank you for taking the time to offer explanations for the two queries I had. It's clear that in both cases there is no uniformity to what can be gleaned, especially as far as trying to determine if someone is divorced when undertaking a second marriage.

Jax - thank you for your posting, just goes to show how marriage certificates offer more than just the names and dates.

It/s a bit of a lottery , depending on what questions were asked at the time
generally it will say widow , !

If you want to see actual examples of what parish registers look like and how they have changed over the years have a look at the SEAX site for Barking St Margaret.
http://seax.essexcc.gov.uk/default.asp
You have to register, then select Essex Ancestors, Parishes begining with B, Barking, St Margaret. and you will then be offered a number of choices of Baptisms, Burials and Marriages from the mid sixteenth century to 1991.

You will have to be quick as they may start charging for this from Monday 24th October.

Barking is the only parish I have found with a complete set of digital images.

There are plenty of online images of OPRs at:
https://www.familysearch.org/s/collection/list#page=1®ion=EUROPE

To cite one example: Prestwich (St Mary) goes back to the mid 18th cent
It's under
England, Lancashire – Cheshire – Yorkshire Parish Registers, 1603-1992
but, in spite of the collection title, it's really Greater Manchester.

Nudge