FreeREG Record Details

[annegen]

Hello. I have some Search Record Details from FreeREG for a marriage in 1830 and the last entry is a file number. Is it possible to buy a copy of the original entry, and if so, where would I apply?
Thank you.
annegen

[olliecat]

If you give us some additional information such as the names of the bride/groom/location/church we can advise you on where you can obtain a copy of the entry. Most likely from the Record Office for the county that the marriage was held in.

[annegen]

Hello olliecat

This is what I have:
Bride: Hannah WALL
Groom: Alexander Gray HARBIN
Location/Church: Castle Cary, Somerset, All Saints Church
Date: 27 September 1830
Groom & Bride Parish: Castle Cary
Register No: 219
File No: 11366

Thanks
annegen

[Pam Downes]

In the hope of saving olliecat a couple of minutes' work Somerset Archives and Local Studies are the people you need. http://www1.
somerset.gov.uk/archives/ (Note the 1 in the URL.)
You can send them an email saying that you would like a copy of the entry in the PR - don't forget to give them all the details except for the file number. The file number is a FreeREG reference, and will mean absolutely nothing to the Archives.
There will be a fee to pay http://www1.
somerset.gov.uk/archives/Leaflets/Charges.pdf
but Archives will confirm how much.

Pam

[Mike Fry]

This is what I have:
Bride: Hannah WALL
Groom: Alexander Gray HARBIN
Location/Church: Castle Cary, Somerset, All Saints Church
Date: 27 September 1830
Groom & Bride Parish: Castle Cary
Register No: 219
File No: 11366

The two numbers are horses of different colours.

The Register No is the sequential number found in the register and would help the archive in locating the actual record in the register.

The File No is an internal, FreeREG-assigned number and is of no help to you unless you want to query the accuracy of the record. And in any case, FreeREG would always refer you to the original register so that you can check the details yourself - which is what Pam Downes suggested.

[annegen]

Thankyou Pam and Mike. I'm off to email Somerset Archives and Local Studies and follow up getting a copy of this certificate.
Cheers
annegen

[Mike Fry]

Thank you Pam and Mike. I'm off to email Somerset Archives and Local Studies and follow up getting a copy of this certificate.

Can we please get the terminology correct? There are NO certificates for before July 1837. Certificates are an artefact of Civil Registration, and are thus, government-generated. Before the introduction of Civil Registration, all there is is Parish Registers and other, church-generated documents.

What you should be able to get is one of two things:-

a) a handwritten transcription of the entry from the Parish Register - this won't be all that different from the information presently available on FreeREG

b) a photocopy of the entry from the Parish Register - which should confirm what you have already seen from FreeREG, but with the added advantage of you been able to make your own assessment of the accuracy of the FreeREG transcription, and with the ability of being added to your collection of paper records.

From 1754, marriages were recorded according to a pre-defined format and using a standard form. This form changed in about 1812 at which stage it resembles the modern form with fathers names and occupations. Between 1754 and 1812, there are only witness names and signatures. Pre-1754 all there is, generally, are one or two lines of free-form, variable-quality handwriting using various spellings for names. Pre-Restoration, you start hitting lots of abbreviations and Latin if the rector felt like showing off! Also, the style of handwriting changes drastically as you go further back in time.

As a final, historical note, Parish Registers were instituted by Henry VIII in 1538, but very few survive from this date (think Reformation). Most early registers date from the time of Elizabeth I. The following is taken from Wikipedia.

On 5 September 1538, following the split with Rome, Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII's Vicar General, ordered that each parish priest must keep a book, and that the Parson, in the presence of the wardens, must enter all the baptisms, marriages and burials of the previous week. The book was to be kept in a "sure coffer" with two locks (one key for the vicar, the other for the wardens). A fine of 3s 4d was to be levied for failure to comply. Many parishes ignored this order, believing it to be the forerunner of some new tax.

The order was repeated in 1547 with the stipulation that the fine was to go to the relief of the poor.

From 1598 records were to be kept in 'great decent books of parchment' and copies or 'Bishop's Transcripts' of new entries were to be sent each month to the diocesan centre. Previous records (especially from the first year of Her Majesty's reign (1558)), often on scraps of paper, had to be copied into the new books, but many had deteriorated and were unreadable. The costs of the new books were to be met by charging for entries; this was opposed by many parishes and the act was not enforced until 1603. Finance was to be born by the Parish, and the books were to be kept in a chest with three locks. The week's entries were to be read out each Sunday after evensong.

During the English Civil War (1643–1647) and in the following Commonwealth period, records were poorly kept and many are now missing after being destroyed or hidden by the clergy. During 1653–1660 the registering of births, marriages and deaths was taken over by civil officers (confusingly called Parish Registers), but the registers were returned to the churches following the Restoration in 1660.

In order to encourage the wool trade, an act was passed in 1678 making it compulsory for all corpses to be buried in a shroud made of wool, an affidavit having to be made (and recorded in the register) that this had been done.

In 1694 the costs of each entry were drastically increased in order to finance a war against France (Marriages 12d => 1s 6d, Burials 4d => 4s, Baptisms 4d => 2s). In 1696 a tax of 6d had to be paid for any birth not reported within five days, and vicars were fined £2 for neglecting to record a birth; this was abandoned in 1706.

In 1711 it was ordered that the pages of registers were to be ruled and numbered (generally ignored) and in 1733 entries had to be made in English rather than Latin.

Prior to 1751 (when the calendar was reformed), the register year would go from Lady Day to Lady Day (25 March) so, for example 31 December 1740 would be followed by 1 January 1740 (actually 1741).

In 1754 Lord Hardwick's Marriage Act came into being. A separate Marriage Register was to be kept (later with pre-printed forms), and Banns were enforced and Clandestine Marriages made illegal.

In 1763 the minimum age for marriage was fixed at 16 (earlier only with a Licence from the Bishop) and parental consent was needed for anyone under 21. A stamp duty of 3d was imposed on entries from 1783 to 1794 but was exempt for paupers.

In 1812 an "Act for the better regulating and preserving Parish and other Registers of Birth, Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, in England" (Rose's Act) was passed. It stated that "amending the Manner and Form of keeping and of preserving Registers of Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials of His Majesty's Subjects in the several Parishes and Places in England, will greatly facilitate the Proof of Pedigrees of Persons claiming to be entitled to Real or Personal Estates, and otherwise of great public Benefit and Advantage". Separate, printed registers were to be supplied by the King's Printer, and used for baptisms, marriages and burials. These are more or less unchanged to this day.

[Peter Goodey]

You can actually get certificates of pre-1837 events. Just like a certificate from GRO, this would be a certified copy of a register entry. If required, it would normally be provided by the Diocesan Record Officer (who, in practice, is usually the county archivist).

Most people would not need one of these and certainly Anne would be well advised not to use the term "certificate" when ordering from a county record office because the statutory fee would be payable for a certified copy.

[annegen]

Mike and Peter
Thanks for that information. I can certainly see the importance of getting the terminology correct. Much appreciated.
annegen