Contract prior to marriage

[acaciabound]

Hello All,
I have come across a contract dated the day prior to marriage.
Does anyone have any information on what it actually is.

Did William Hewitt have to pay 200 pounds to the Church and or King?
I am not sure who Joseph Say is (maybe a carer of Ann Payne (spinster)

[phil57]

Marriage bonds enabled a marriage licence to be issued without having to proclaim banns in church on three successive Sundays prior to the marriage.

For an explanation of the various partrs of the document, see

https://www.york.ac.uk/media/borthwick/documents/5marriagebonds.pdf

and a Google or similar search for Marriage Bonds will reveal other interesting articles and explanations.

[goldie61]

This is an application for a marriage licence.
It meant the couple did not have to wait the three weeks to have the banns read out in church. If you had a licence you could get married straight away.
The actual licence was given to the groom.

There have been many questions asked about these documents here on Rootschat.
Here is just one example which gives some information about them.
https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=862331.0

William Hewitt and his bondsman Joseph Say, who was probably a friend of his, did not have to pay the 200 pounds. It was only a safeguard that had to be paid should the marriage not go ahead for any reason.

[acaciabound]

Thank you Rootschatters, for the explanations and links.
Much appreciated.

[Spelk]

I think it is wrong to say that the money had to be paid if the marriage did not go ahead. The money only had to be paid if it was found that there was some legal reason why the marriage could no go ahead. Such as if either party was already married.

[phil57]

Yes, as explained in the link to the York University document above, the sum mentioned was a penalty to be paid if any of the conditions set out in the allegation, such as confirmation that there were no impediments to the marriage, were found to have been falsely made or broken.