Marriage by Licence

[BumbleB]

A lot of marriages by licence were paid for by the parish. Marriage enforced to save future cost of a illegitimate  child having to be supported by the parish.

That possibly accounts for those licences issued by the Curate/Vicar.   

[nestagj]

We were married by Common Licence (as opposed to special Licence) in 1982.  This was done because my husband was not living in the parish he had been christened in; andwasn;t a regulas worshipper at the church where he lived.  So the Rector explained it was easier than calling the banns in both parishes.
Nesta

[jonwarrn]

I think I might have seen this . Ancestry has the Crisp's Marriage Licence collection 1713-1892, which is a collection of some of the actual licences as opposed to bonds or allegations, for the Vicar General and Faculty Office. Presumably in most cases these were just thrown away.

Hi there
Thanks for pointing that out, great stuff. I'd never noticed that collection on ancestry before. It's called Crisp's Marriage Licence Index, perhaps the title is a bit misleading!
I still like my Sussex one better though

[melba_schmelba]

I think I might have seen this . Ancestry has the Crisp's Marriage Licence collection 1713-1892, which is a collection of some of the actual licences as opposed to bonds or allegations, for the Vicar General and Faculty Office. Presumably in most cases these were just thrown away.

Hi there
Thanks for pointing that out, great stuff. I'd never noticed that collection on ancestry before. It's called Crisp's Marriage Licence Index, perhaps the title is a bit misleading!
I still like my Sussex one better though

It took a while for it to dawn on me what they were  too ! I wondered if parish clerks made a side hustle in asking people if they wanted their licences, if not could they have them, or just fishing them out of bins (did they have 'bins' hmmm ), then selling them on to dealers, booksellers perhaps .

[coombs]

Marriage license bonds and allegations can be the closest thing we get to "marriage certificate" type records before July 1837, as often the father/mother/guardian or another relative signed the bond. The adding of 2 witnesses to marriages in the actual registers from 1754 onwards is very helpful for the 1754-1837 marriage records as many were relatives. Although many were just friends, neighbours, colleagues or church officials. Mid 1700s is when in many cases, getting back before then is when the paper trail starts to dry up.

[GrahamSimons]

The adding of 2 witnesses to marriages in the actual registers from 1754 onwards is very helpful for the 1754-1837 marriage records as many were relatives. Although many were just friends, neighbours, colleagues or church officials.

From the SoG's Great Card Index project, I have spotted some definite 'church officials' in the records - one Stephen Ogle was witness to loads of marriages at Rotherhithe, for example - I would guess that I've seen more than 100 of them!