Genealogy Chat

Hi Phillipa, I don't think people acted any differently then than they do now. I just found another set of grt grt grandparents married 15yrs after their first child was born. Maxine

I have a Register Office wedding as early as 1847. The bride did have an illegitmate child the year before but it never seemed to stop the others getting married in church. Sounds like my tree is full of loose women - lol! Pippa

Hi Bernice, I suppose so, though they were quite young when they married. Maxine

Hi Julie & Abigail, Like I mentioned before the groom came from Thorney, Cambridgeshire and the bride from Welwyn, Hertfordshire. I expect it was convenient & cheap. Maybe they had a blessing in a church at a later date. Maxine

I had a thought too. In church you have banns read on three consecutive Sundays in the church of the parish you belong to and in the church in which you will marry if the two belong to different parishes. Quite public. But also there is a system of residency, so you need to be resident in a place for something like 15 or 21 days to qualify. Sometimes in my family, sailors could not do that so they would marry by special licence, which was more expensive so I wonder if they would save money on the other hand by not doing it in a church? Abigail

Hi Marjorie, I suppose there was all sorts of reasons people chose to marry in a register office, I just never realised you could marry in a register office in the 1800's. Maxine

I have several pairs of ancestors who married in Registry Offices as early as the 1840s. They were strong non-conformists and as their own Church did not have a licence to marry them, they had to go the RO, because the C of E Vicar would not marry them, because they neither went to his Church, nor were they of his religion. Hope this makes sense! Marjorie

Hi Helen, Both fathers had similar jobs, ag lab & shepherd so I should imagine they came from similar backgrounds. Maybe they had no family that lived nearby so chose a quiet wedding without any fuss. Or maybe like you said there was some conflict from one or other of the families. I don't suppose I'll ever know but it doesn't stop me from wondering Maxine

My G Grandparents married in a register office in 1901. My Nan (their daughter-in-law) told me his family didn't approve of his choice of bride, in fact he had very little to do with his family after the marriage. I think today many couples marry abroad etc. for similar reasons, much less stressful than worrying if your rellies are going to start fighting.......

Hi Nell, Thank you for you suggestions. Like I said I know the groom was C of E but I don't know about the bride. I don't think the bride was pregnant as the first baby was born 3yrs later, maybe they just wasn't religious. Maxine

Maxine Register office weddings were made possible with the 1837 Registration Act, which started civil registration. I don't know how common it was, but I have only 2 register office weddings in my family. The earliest was 1852 and I think was probably because the bride had a baby 3 weeks after the service! The other wedding was 20th century and was a second wedding - I think it was probably just a quiet do. On my husband's side, I've found two register office weddings. One I think may have been a shotgun affair (pregnant bride), but the other I believe is because the groom was C of E and the bride was Jewish. nell

Hi Vikki, I know that the groom was Church of England not sure about the bride. The groom was from Cambridgshire & bride from Hertfordshire, maybe they had a blessing at a later date at the bride or grooms church. I do like the little mysteries that crop up from time to time, keeps the brain ticking over nicely. Maxine

Hi I dont know if it was unusual or just different, but maybe it was because they were both different religions? Just a thawt. Perhaps you could look into what religion they were and do some research based on that? Though where and how you would find that info im not sure. An interesting avenue to explore though! Vikki xx

I have just received the marriage certificate of my Grt Grt Grandparents. They married in 1867 at The Register Office in Islington by certificate. I have several marriage certificates of ancestors in church but this is the first in a register office. Was this unusual for the 1800's? Are there any reasons they wouldn't have married in church? Maxine