Genealogy Chat

Please can someone help me. What information can be found on marriage licences? Can you get copies of marriage licences? Thanks for your help Jane

Hello Jane - you can get copies of marriage licences if you know when and where the couple married. The copies I have are very useful as they show whether the couple have been married before (i.e. whether batchelor, spinster, widow etc) the bride's maiden name, the father's names of the couple and whether those gentlemen are dead. It also shows the occupations of the bride, groom and the fathers. If you are lucky you may also get the witnesses names (unless as in my case several certs. merely had X as being the signature of the witness). Well worth getting really - for instance, I was able to deduce that my grt-grandmother was 8 months pregnant when she married in church (as her first child was born exactly 1 month later!!!) Hope that helps. Jacqui

hi jane, the information on a marriage certificate is when and where the marriage took place, the name and surname of the bride and groom, their ages, there condition, eg spinster, rank of profession, residence at time of marriage, fathers name and surname, and their rank and profession. and you can order the certs online if you go to www.pro.gov.uk and just follow the links, or you can click on resource centre at the side of this page and get the pro there. by the way the certs cost 7.00 and take about a week. hope this helps.

Hi Jacqualine and April Thanks for your help. Please forgive my ignorance but is the marriage licence and the marriage dertificate the same thing. i think i;m getting a bit confused here. Jane

Jane You need to buy a licence to marry, I paid £39.50 in 1991.I was given a reciept which gave a break down of the fees.It just gives my husbands address as he paid.Once you are married you are then given the certificate which has more detail.The other thing that you should look for on a marriage certificate is the witnesses as this can give a relative that you didn't know about. Mary

The following is taken from the englishvillagesresearch website: Marriage licences were issued by the bishop of a diocese, or another church authority. A couple could apply for a licence when they did not want to wait the three weeks required for the proclamation of banns, or if they did not want the publicity of having banns read. A licence was also required if the bride and groom lived in different dioceses. As there was a fee involved in obtaining a marriage licence, they were normally used only by the middle and upper classes. The documents involved in obtaining a marriage licence are the bond, the allegation, and the licence itself. The bond is a written guarantee made by the groom and another person swearing to the legality of the planned marriage. The allegation is a statement filed by the couple and which gives their personal details. The licence was the document given to the couple for them to present to the minister performing the marriage. Bonds and allegations were filed with the diocesan records, and microform copies are now available in many public archives. Licences were retained by the married couple and few have survived. Hope this clarifies the difference between licences and certificates which certify that the marriage has taken place. If you do a search for "marriage licences" you will find plenty of sites which offer numerous explanations together with transcribed lists for various regions. You may be lucky and find your names among them. Sue

Thanks everyone for your help. I will contact Somerset Records office and see if it is possible to get copies of the Licence/bonds etc there. Jane