Genealogy Chat

Hi

I know that now a days witness's at weddings are usually close friends or family but how would a witness have been chosen in 1835 and 1854. My GGG grand father was married twice at the same church but the witness's were not family and were all male.

Hi Karen

Sometimes it could've been a church/local official. I have seen the same name appear over & over again on some old records - nothing whatsoever to do with the family unfortunately. :-((

Angela

Weddings weren't always the big social scene they are nowadays - in the past you often got married on your rare day off.
Sometimes it was simply the 2 churchwardens who acted as witnesses, Can you find possibilities for the witnesses in census?

Jay

This webpage

http://www.florilegium.org/files/WEDDINGS/wed-trad-FAQ.html

has a lot of information about early wedding ceremonies. It's interesting to read how many of the things we think of as traditional are recent additions, while some things we do are very old.I was interested to read about the tradition of putting a gold coin in the shoe for prosperity as I did that (as did my mother) but I hadn't heard of it outside of our family.

Certainly many of the witnesses I've seen in parish registers have been church wardens but I have also identified a lot of siblings acting as witnesses in my own family.

Sue

Sue, did the gold coin work? curious minds want to know

Well ..........let's just say that each time we seem short of cash some tends to arrive unexpectedly! Not rich but not complaining!! LOL

:))
Sue

cool... that's one to remember then...should I ever find a guy I want to marry lol.

"Something old, something new,
Something borrowed, something blue,
And a gold coin in the toe of your shoe."

I had a gold coin & like Sue we're not wealthy but we've never been in poverty either.

Ozi.

Which just goes to show how much I know!

The following is from Oxford's -A Dictionary of Superstitions-
(p.42-43):

"Something old, something new,
something borrowed, something blue"

was quoted in a 1883 newspaper and ascribed to "some Lancashire friends.

" Something old tradition- no pre-20th century citations. The editors point out a possible link to the belief that "something old" will protect a baby, first cited at 1659.

No citations for "something new."

Something borrowed- same 1883 paper (one issue earlier) "it is widely accounted 'lucky' to wear something...which has already been worn by a happy bride at her wedding.

" Something blue- Wearing blue to express faithfulness traced back as far as a 1390 citation from Chaucer's "Squire's Tale.

" -Sixpence- appears twice, as "silver sixpence" and "lucky sixpence" (the third line scans with a more staccato rhythym than the first two.) There's 1774 record of a Scottish groom using a sixpence in his shoe to ward off evil from his rival, and an 1814 (Scottish again) citation that the bride "wear a piece of silver in one of her shoes" to ward evil from disappointed suitors. There are also 20th century citations to the bride's walking on a gold coin to produce prosperity.

For your curiousity, pre-1650 wedding superstitions included:
1549 the lifting over the threshhold;
1601 sun seen shining on the bride = good fortune;
1648 garters passed on to groomsmen and bridesmaids;
1604 bride's left stocking thrown (as modern bouquet);
1615 premature marriage producing premature death;
1592 unmarried elder sisters dancing barefoot at wedding party;
1634 one wedding brings another;
stepping between couple unlucky (or even caused by the devil).



Ozi.

I think it was just like today ............... you had friends, family or strangers stand up with you.


I've seen references to grooms going along with their best friend and the bride having their best friend. And that certainly answers the apparent mysterious ones on my certificates.

Try looking on a census and see if you can find the name of one or other of the witness ............ I once found the female witness living 2 doors away from the bride!

I've also had siblings, sibling and husband, and apparent complete strangers.


sylvia

Thanks to all who replied it helps I will look at the census retirns to check out if the witness's lived in the village where my ancestor gor married.
One problem I have is that my ancestor did not live in this village as far as I can tell and had no connection but he must have liked it because he got married there twice.
Karen

I had a silver sixpence in my shoe when I was married.
The date on it was my birth year. I had kept it for years in my jewelery box specially for the occasion.

"Something old, something new,
Something borrowed, something blue,
And a silver sixpence in your shoe."