Genealogy Chat

Thankyou very much Brenda :-) Deb X

Hi Deb The allegations would be kept separately. The originals would usually be in the county records office, but lots of societies, particularly in the 1800s, indexed them. These volumes are often in large libraries. I only know the areas I have family in, but there are good series for Devon, Wilts, Hants, Surrey, and not bad ones for Norfolk and Sussex. Brenda

Brenda, Yes the marraige took place before 1837, it was 1788 to be exact , but the person who did the lookup only gave me the names and date of wedding. So i'm pressuming that this is all the info there was. Deb X

Jen Where abouts did your rellies come from? Deb X

Thanks very for all your relpies, much appreiated :-) Deb X

It means your lucky day, Deb. If your people married married before 1837 and by licence, then there is a reasonable change not only that the allegation has survived, but that someone has published an indexed volume to the allegations. The information they contain varies from place to place and time to time, but you should at least get the parishes of each party and names of guardians where appropriate. You sometimes get occupations and ages (approximate, but better than nothing) and the name of the bondsman (who had sworn that they were free to marry). Happy hunting Brenda

It meant they got a marriage licence instead of being married by banns. From http://home*.*clara*.*net/dixons/Certificates/marriages*.*htm (2) 'by licence' which would be found in the same set of registers and would indicate that the couple may have married with less than three weeks between giving the notice and getting married (minimum of 1 clear working day). However - a licence lasts three months so the marriage wasn't necessarily done in a rush. It may have been easier to give only the one licence notice rather than the two that would have been needed for a marriage by certificate if the bride and groom lived in different districts. . (4) 'by common licence' which can only be found in a Church of England marriage. The licence has been issued by the Bishop for the diocese and I believe is the equivalent of the licence in a register office or non-conformist church. (5) 'by special licence' which can only be found in a Church of England marriage. The licence has been issued by the Archbishop not the Bishop. I believe that this would allow the couple to get married in a church which is not the usual parish church for either of them but I am not sure of this. nell

If a couple married by taking out a licence, they didn't have to have the banns read on three consecutive weeks prior to the marriage. This means that the wedding could either be kept secret or could take place more quickly. They might decide to do this if perhaps the husband was going off to sea or to work away somewhere, if the bride was obviously pregnant, or one of them had been married before and they wanted a wedding out of the public eye.

Afternoon all, Someone has kindly done me a parish record lookup for a marraige on it says 'By Licence' at the side , what exactly did this mean. Deb X