Roman Catholic Registers

[lancaster.jim]

Further to Maiden Stone's information (24 July) about the decree “Ne Temere”, this decree was issued to unify the Catholic solemnisation of marriage around the world,  The big change that was seen here in England was the introduction of the “Certificate of Freedom to Marry”.  This is a copy of all the information in the entry in the Baptismal Register for the person.  This has to be given to the priest who is to solemnise the marriage and after the marriage that priest has to inform the baptismal parish of the details of the marriage for them to be entered the baptism entry.  If that person needed another “Certificate of Freedom to Marry” to marry in a Catholic church later, then that certificate will contain details of the first marriage and the person will have to prove the death of the first spouse.  In such cases, there should be an addition giving details of the second marriage and MAYBE details of the death of the first spouse.  These annotations may appear in baptism registers from about 1870 for marriages that took place after 1908.

Another consequence of the decree “Ne Temere” is that couples who had married outside the Church would (to use a phrase from my youth) have their marriage 'put right' with a ceremony in church.  Such ceremonies would be recorded in the church marriage register and are usually annotated 'NT' or 'Ne Temere' or similar, and sometimes have reasons.  These are the most common instances where the entry in the Catholic register does not have a civil entry for the same date.  This only occurs after 1908.  The 'civil' marriage (in a non-Catholic church, or in the Register Office) will have occurred some time (??many years) before this church entry.

It is very seldom that there is an annotation in the marriage register to indicate where the persons were baptised.

[Maiden Stone]

Thanks, Jim.  I'd saved a link to the English text of "Ne Temere" but it doesn't work.

After reading your 2nd paragraph I looked again at the marriage register of St. Mary of the Assumption, Burnley where I'd previously noticed reference to "Ne Temere" in some entries.  The first* was in May 1909.
"Marriage [Convalidation]" followed by the usual information about the couple, their fathers and witnesses, then Notes: "Propter decretum 'Ne Temere' " (propter = on account of)
There were 40-50 weddings annually in the parish. "Convalidation" marriages numbered 1-4 annually until they shot up to 11 in 1917. Notes on some 1917 "Convalidation " marriages included date of the previous ceremony; each date noted was between 1914 and 1917. 
The stated reason for one convalidation ceremony was that a registrar hadn't been present at the church so the couple went to the registry office the next day for a civil marriage.
* I checked up on this couple. They married in summer 1908 in an Anglican church and had a child in October, baptised Catholic. The teenage bride may have been illegitimate.  Her father in C. of E. marriage register was a different person to her father in R.C. marriage register and neither surname matched hers. Her mother's surname in R.C. register wasn't the same as the bride or either father. Good luck to anyone researching that family. 

[lancaster.jim]

I have looked at the marriage register for St Joseph, Heywood (1872 onwards).  Quite a number of marriages are annotated “Obtenta dispensatione (matrim: mixt:)” showing that one of the parties was not a Catholic.  The first reference to “Ne Temere” is in 1912 and is annotated “disp Apost obtenta  Ne Temere case”  suggesting that the couple had previously had a marriage ceremony in a non-Catholic church, or in the Register Office  Checking LancashireBMD (http://lancashirebmd.org.uk/index.php ) shows that the previous ceremony took place at St Clement, Rochdale, in 1909.  LanBMD does not have a record of this ceremony in 1912.

References to “Ne Temere” become much more common from 1913.  Taken with your note about St Mary, Burnley, this suggests that the diocese authorities had started to 'encourage' noting of these cases.

[melba_schmelba]

To be married in the Catholic church you had to show that both parties had been baptised. If either party couldn’t provide a baptism certificate then they had to contact the church for proof. Maybe this is how the baptism entries were annotated in some cases.

But surely that was not practical, say, for Irish immigrants, even to GB in the 18th and early 19th centuries before any viable postal system even existed?

this only became the rule after about 1908

Easter 1908 after "Ne Temere " decree on marriage 1907 (my reply #1).
Marriages between a Catholic and a member of another Christian denomination still happened in Catholic churches after 1908.
"Ne Temere" required a Catholic to marry in a Catholic church, preferably in the parish of the bride, in the presence of the parish priest or a priest designated by him. Prior to 1908 the Catholic Church didn't require members to marry in a Catholic church; main requirements before then were that a marriage was performed according to the law of the country and that neither party had a living spouse.
Adding information about a marriage to a person's baptism register was an insurance against that person trying later to marry someone else in a Catholic church while their spouse was alive.
There have been several amendments to Catholic canon law between 16th and late 20th centuries. They were applied or not applied in different countries and even in different dioceses within a country at various times. That's why I began my first reply with "it depends when, where"

Catholic priests were operating illegally in England until very late in 18th century. There were no parishes, only missions. Decision to begin keeping a register would have been up to each chaplain or missionary. Some priests who kept registers (in small notebooks) took them away when they moved. Registers which remained in a place have big gaps  or resemble scrapbooks, even in 19thC.

I see thanks. I have managed to find a fair few early baptisms and marriages, some of which were at the embassy chapels of various Catholic countries in London. It makes sense that the rule didn't apply until 1908 due to the sheer impracticality of contacting the couple's baptismal churches in far flung places (and probably quite often they didn't even know where they were baptised).

[Maiden Stone]

It makes sense that the rule didn't apply until 1908 due to the sheer impracticality of contacting the couple's baptismal churches in far flung places (and probably quite often they didn't even know where they were baptised).

"A Commentary on the decree 'Ne Temere' " by Very Reverend John T. Creagh, Professor of Canon Law and Associate Professor of Jurisprudence at the Catholic University of America, published 1908

On status liber, proofs of liberty; refers to the current "diversity of practice" with examples and references.
"A frequently recurring statute takes account of persons who come from a distance; these are obliged to furnish (to the parish priest) proofs of liberty, that is, testimonial letters from the last place in which they had domicile …; or the sworn declaration of witnesses; or if neither of these can be secured, the sworn declaration of the contracting parties that they are free from impediment must be taken."
One diocese had advised "special diligence" regarding Italians immigrating to America after age 14.

"It is evident from the above that … the parish priest is left in many cases to his own zeal and discretion , too often with little assistance or direction from positive legislation."
https://archive.org/stream/CommentaryOnTheDecreeNeTemere/CommentaryOnTheDecreeNeTemere_djvu.txt