Genealogy Chat

I am looking for my ggg grandfather's (he was a convict to Tasmania in 1833) sister's marriage details through a parish before 1837. It is in Middlesex but I don't know which a parish was. Will the marriage image tell what thier fathers' names were? Regards, Steven from Australia.

Hi Steven Sorry but no, the father's names were not usually recorded in the pre-1837 marriage registers. Richard

Steven, You are saying that this took place in Middlesex, England. if so, do you know the name of the church and district, because the church records name the mother, father and fathers occupation. Kathlyn

Kathlyn is mistaken, the marriage records pre 1837 DO NOT give that information, for that you would need to find their baptismal records. Perhaps if you give yor ggggrandfather's and his sister's names someone may be able to help you. Jennifer

I have many pre 1837 marriages where the fathers name ARE recorded - and many where they are not. It is the luck of the draw. If you can track down the Banns Book, that WILL have the name of the fathers in it. OC

Hi Steven, Have you tried the IGI's on familysearch[.]org Put in the name, approx date, Middlesex, marriage and see what comes up. You may get lucky. Cheers Margaret.

OC - in all the banns records that I've looked at, I've NEVER found the fathers names of the prospective marriage partners recorded. The banns that I've seen just name the would-be bride & groom, state if they are ''of the parish'' (and if not, name the parish), and then give the three dates upon which the banns were read out, and by whom they were read. Maybe I've just been unlucky!!! And as for the lucky dip on the pre-1837 marriage register naming the parents, I reckon you'd stand more chance on the lottery, to be honest! Yes it's definitely worth viewing the original register entry of course, but don't count on gaining any extra info from it above what you've found on the IGI transcript, except for the witness names maybe.

The same as Richard I have NEVER seen the fathers name given in marriage banns.

Richard My research is mainly in Lancashire and Cheshire - parishes of Leyland, Chorley, Blackburn ( very little father information here) and Macclesfield and Gawsworth in Cheshire. Apart from a curious glitch between 1812 to about 1820, fathers names are always given. The 1812 thingy is because that is when the Parish started using pre-printed books for marriages, which do not give space for fathers names. However, the obliging Vicar started to overwrite the forms with extra information - including fathers names. I found Banns Books for two of the parishes I was researching and the Vicar recorded the date of the marriage ceremony against the Banns, and used this as a register - the happy couple and the witnesses signed this Banns Book, and the Vicar also recorded the marriage in the Marriage register on the preprinted forms. Prior to 1812, my parish registers almost always record the name of the fathers. Perhaps I HAVE just been lucky - I hope my luck doesn't run out! Incidentally, nonconformist marriages - where they exist pre 1837 - almost always have more information recorded than C of E marriages. OC

OC You must have been extremely lucky, the vicar or vicars of the parishes you looked at must have been exceptional. I did once while looking through some burials of a Suffolk parish in the 1700s that the vicar had noted what the individuals had died from, but I always find events like this are quite rare.

I've got several dozen copies of marriages from the 1700's to the early 1800's - mainly from London, Sussex, Gloucs, Surrey, Yorks & Kent. Not once is a father's name recorded in these, and I never saw the fathers names on any of the other entries whilst searching either. Some of the very early entries just have the date and the bride & groom's names, nothing else. The worst one, for lack of info, was from the Isle of Wight in 1789 - that just has the year as the page heading, then a list of all the couples who were married that year - not even any dates given! I'm sure that wasn't legal, even then (I thought that the Hardwick Act 1754 required that all marriages had to have two witnesses, who both had to sign the register). The only (legal) non-conformist marriages pre-1837 were those of Jews & Quakers. I haven't encountered either of these groups in my research, but I understand that they both did keep very comprehensive records. It's just such a great shame that the established church didn't do likewise!

Richard I agree that pre 1837 the only legal noncon marriages were Jews or Quakers. However, I was recently very intrigued to find a list of Nonconformist marriages which had been performed at 'a Dissenting Meeting House Chapel' (which later became Methodist) for a period covering about 20 years, 1734-54 from memory. These marriages have been absorbed into the records of Blackburn Cathedral, without any differentiation, so I must assume that they were performed by a pukka C of E cleric and were legal, even though the premises were not C of E. OC

Many thanks for helping me. It was interested. I have learnt this lesson. I will try my best to find their marriage if I am luck to get their father's name. Henry Godfrey was born around 1811 in Shoreditch, according to his convict records. And his sister, Harriette Godfrey that I don't have any information about her. Only I know that she was married to Mr Wilson (unknown name). That's what I am looking for their marriage. I have Henry's court records that they had a father and a mother with a huge family in 1832. Henry left some money in his will to his niece Harriett Wilson in Tasmania. She was born around 1837 in Middlesex. Harriett married to John Jeffries in Tasmania and moved to Victoria and they had a daughter that I have her birth certificate to tell Harriett’s birth of place. Then they moved to Auckland. Someone contacted me who is also related to them from Auckland. She gave me Harriett Wilson's mother named Harriette. She does not know any more about Godfrey. Her late aunty told her about it. I have Henry Godfrey's marriage and death certificates; however there is no records of his parents. It was Church of England. He and his wife and 5 children moved to Surrey around 1854 and his wife Mary died on January 1855 in Newington that I have her death certificate. In 1858, Henry and the children moved back to Tasmania via Victoria that I have their passenger list. I did look up familysearch website and it is nothing to find. And I was told that General Registration wasn't compulsory until 1875 from late 1837.