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Beginners => Family History Beginners Board => Topic started by: BSmith2268 on Wednesday 27 December 23 02:33 GMT (UK)
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Merry Christmas all!
On the topic of Christmas, my x2 great grandparents, John Davies and Edith Rachel Gleeson were married on Monday, 25th December 1905 at St Thomas' Church, Neath, Glamorganshire.
How common was it to marry on Christmas Day and was this unusual?
Thank you,
BSmith
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From a modern perspective, we might think this unusual, but it was more common than you might think.
For many people, it was their only day off/ holiday.
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My Grandparents were married on 26th December 1915,
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I have three generations married on 23 December: 1850, 1877, 1905.
The third one was opposed by the bride's father, married in secret by licence. It occurred to me that she chose the date to snub him!
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On the other side of my family, I recently found a hint of a wedding on 24th December 1873 in Constantinople. On 22nd this year I got to the library to check notices on the microfilm of a local paper, not yet on BNL. It appears the marriage was returned in UK records for Constantinople but actually took place at the Embassy Chapel in Smyrna. The groom was working for a railway company.
Then I had the thought that the 24th would be their 150th anniversary!
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A quick search for marriages in England on 25 Dec 1850 ( exact) gives 6985 results.
I've not checked for duplicates but it was often, as Neale says, the only day off/holiday for many.
Gadget
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Although the explanations given are very reasonable I've never
quite bought into it.
People married every day of the year & there were many that even worked on
Xmas day.
My take on it was that couples wanted to marry or have children Baptised
on important days on the Ecclesiastical calendar as this is what people
lived their lives by rather than the calendar we understand.
Michaelmas, Easter & Saints days were all popular dates.
As it's the season of goodwill might I suggest it was a mixture of both.
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Interestingly, none of my ancestors, who were predominantly coal miners, agricultural labourers, and a few farmers, were married on 25th December :)
https://www.findmypast.co.uk/blog/discoveries/christmas-day-weddings
Christmas Day weddings usually occurred out of necessity.
Christmas and Boxing Day were often the only days of the year that young working-class couples were guaranteed to get off work. Even Charles Dickens' Ebenezer Scrooge was forced to reluctantly give his long-suffering clerk, Bob Cratchett, the day off in the opening chapter of A Christmas Carol.
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I've given no thought to this, but what about Quarter Days ? Rents payable ?
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Hi BSmith. And a very Merry Christmas to you.
My great-grandparents, who came from a long line of Primitive Methodists, were married on December 25th, 1879, in Victoria (Australia). Apparently it was more common in most denominations than we can imagine.
The best explanation I've read is that Christmas in those days was not as important as Easter. If you look at Bishops' Transcripts, you will rarely find a marriage in March or April around the time of Easter. The reason for that is apparently because in those days Easter was a much more solemn occasion as it celebrated Jesus' death and resurrection, and it would be inappropriate to have any other celebration at that time.
Have a happy New Year.
Peter
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Happy New Year all,
On Christmas Day 1843, there were 15 couples who married in St Margaret's, Leicester, among them my 3x great grandparents.
Not necessarily all at the same time, I suppose, but one wonders whether there was a queue down the aisle!
pwhhh