Marriage - custom and places

[Spangle]

I have two questions which I wonder if anyone can help me with please.

The first is whether an 1862 marriage in, as Free BMD puts it, St George, Hanover Square, Middlesex (London now of course) would have actually occurred at that church or whether the term covers a larger, more general area and St George was only the parish.

The second is why a couple would have married in a given area. Did people have to marry in the area in which one of them had lived for a certain period of time as is, I think, still the requirement now, or could they have chosen to marry anywhere?

Any information which you might be able to give me would be much appreciated - thanks everyone!

[Mutley]

Spangle,
I am not an expert but until you get a more informative answer, I believe St. George Hanover Square was a parish not a church.
http://homepages.gold.ac.uk/genuki/MDX/StGeorgeHanoverSquare/index.html

Also, I think it was most common for a marriage to take place in the parish of the bride, though it seems they could actually go anywhere and fulfil whatever criteria was required.

[Geoffers]

The first is whether an 1862 marriage in, as Free BMD puts it, St George, Hanover Square, Middlesex would have actually occurred at that church or whether the term covers a larger

The places listed in the GRO index (and freebmd) are registration districts, they cover more than one parish. The size of he district depends on its location. Using freebmd, there is a handy tool you can use to find out the area covered. The 'St Geo Han Sq' should be shown underlined. It is a link, click on it; then clink on the underlined 'here' and you will get a list of places in this RD

The second is why a couple would have married in a given area?

The reasons vary depending on circumstances.

[Spangle]

Thank you - so they may not have ben part of the fashionista of the time then! ;-)

[Peter Goodey]

In 1862, they could have married at the Register Office ;)