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General => The Common Room => Topic started by: Fliss on Saturday 24 August 24 11:37 BST (UK)
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Hello!
I'm very confused and hope someone can shed some light on this couple marrying seven years before the Marriage Bond and Allegation was issued.
May 1783: Thomas Sanders married Mary Ware who was a minor by licence in Reigate, Surrey.
1783-1789: They had three children.
Dec 1790: Marriage bond and allegation issued for Thomas Sanders and Mary Ware of Rygate (variant for Reigate).
Has anyone come across this before?
I have images of both the marriage certificate and the bond but they're too large to attach here.
Any information / thoughts will be much appreciated.
Thank you.
Fliss
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They were married again at St Mary Reigate on Christmas Day 1790 (same church as the 1783 marriage).
Perhaps there was some concern about the legality of the first marriage. In 1783 Thomas was described as a "batchelor". In 1790 on both the marriage bond and the marriage record, he's a widower.
Possibilities:
- he had been married before and was a widower in 1783, OR
- he had been married before and was still married in 1783 - in which case the marriage to Mary Ware in 1783 was bigamous, OR
- The marriage in 1790 was to a different Mary Ware
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I was also thinking of what ShaunJ was saying, and would think the 1783 marriage had some ifs and buts about it, or he even married 2 Mary Ware's, maybe either cousins or just coincidence.
I have just looked at scans of the original 1783 and 1790 marriages and both did not sign but only gave their mark of, but the "X"'s look similar for both years.
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…Possibilities:
- he had been married before and was a widower in 1783, OR
- he had been married before and was still married in 1783 - in which case the marriage to Mary Ware in 1783 was bigamous, OR
- The marriage in 1790 was to a different Mary Ware
Is it possible that this was the first Mary?
Surrey, England Baptism
Mary Ware
Baptism Date and Place - 28 May 1766, Horley, St Bartholomew, Surrey, England
Parents - James and Ann Ware
And the second Mary?
Surrey, England Baptism
Mary Ware
Baptism Date and Place - 1 June 1763, Horley, St Bartholomew, Surrey, England
Parents - John and Jane Ware
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Thank you for your replies, they have given me much to think about. I certainly value your thoughts as, for instance, I hadn't even considered there were two Mary Ware's. I'll see what I can work out and let you know!
Huge thanks.
Fliss
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There are 75 trees on Ancestry with Mary Ware, born May 1763, Horley, Surrey, most indicate that she was the daughter of John Ware and Jane Comber. It appears that only one public tree has a death for her, 1770, but the burial was not in Surrey (suggestions were Wiltshire and Yorkshire). I didn’t see any trees that include a spouse for Mary.
After a quick search, I didn’t see a likely death for a Mary Sanders c1790 in the Horley/Reigate area. :-\