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  1. #1
    Grandadron
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    Default Newbie in need of assistance

    Having recently started transcribing for FreeReg, I have recently noticed reference to "marriage by certificate". I previously believed that there were two forms of marriage ie Banns or licence, can anyone enlighten me please.

    Ron

  2. #2
    Alan Welsford
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    There was an excellent and detailed reply on just this topic recently, but I'll be damned if I can find it.

    From memory, but I could be wrong, "by certificate", applies in places where there cannot be a calling of banns, (i.e not in a C of E Church).

    I think many register office and non-conformist marriages are "by certificate", and I certainly have plenty of cases of this.
    (However, I have examples of both of these "by licence" also, presumably when they didn't wish to delay a marrige).

    It's a lot more complicated than this, if I rememer right, so hopefully someone can locate the full information on this.

    Alan

  3. #3
    busyglen
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    This is bugging me as well Alan. I remember reading this, and I'm blowed if I can find it...I've tried all sorts of searches. Just shows you what can get lost amongst all of these subjects.

    Glenys

  4. #4
    Grandadron
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    Many thanks for your input. I have searched on google and the term still exists for civil ceromonies.

    Ron

  5. #5
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    It's possible to marry in the Church of England by Superintendent Registrar's Certificate - the circumstances might vary, but one scenario that occurs to me is a non-conformist couple who wanted to keep their involvement with (and payment of fees to) the C of E to an absolute minimum. This would be post-1837.

    After getting into a discussion about this elsewhere, I eventually had to agree that some clergy used "by certificate" as shorthand for "I've received a certificate that banns were read in another parish". This could in theory be at any date, although the post-1837 instructions, as far as I know, were that clergy should record Banns simply as "By Banns".

    Arthur

  6. #6
    Grandadron
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    Hello Arthur
    Thank you for your reply, your second scenario would fit with some of the entries that I refer to, in as much as the marriage was recorded in one place, and actually took place somewhere else outside the parish. But other entries "by certificate" were of families of the parish married in the parish.
    The timescale to which I refer was just before,during, and after the civil war.

    Ron

  7. #7
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    I'm not an expert on these earlier times, and from what I've seen, sometimes clergy were a bit of a law unto themselves and used terms that others might struggle to understand.

    Something which might tie in with what you've found is an entry I've seen from Milton-next-Sittingbourne, Kent, in 1654, during the Commonwealth period. Most entries on the page record that after due publication of their intentions, couples were married in front of the magistrate in a nearby parish. However, one entry states that after publication on three occasions (in March/April) the couple were "married at Whitstable the 23rd of October following as per certificate signed by Benjamin [surname unclear]". The other entries don't mention a certificate.

    As far as I can remember, these are the only entries I've seen where marriages in one place were recorded in another place's register (though I haven't looked at a lot of registers for that period).

    Is that any help?

    Arthur

  8. #8
    Grandadron
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    Hello Arthur
    That does indeed help to put these entries into perspective. After cross checking with some known non-conformist info I had saved, I found two of the families concerned on these and both were married by the local justice.
    Of the people recorded on one parish record and married elsewhere, I have found that in some cases there were no records kept, or they were destroyed, during the Civil war and commonwealth periods. These were troubled times I believe, especially for the non conformists
    Many thanks for your assistance

    Ron

  9. #9
    mfwebb
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    I was the one who started the thread previously which raised the issue of "marriage by certificate".

    LincolnLad gave the following lnk which explains the various methods of marriage.

    https://
    home.clara.net/dixons/Certificates/marriages.htm#COL9

    My query came about as a result of a marriage certificate I have between a couple married in the Established Church "by certificate". I assumed that this meant by licence and I was trying to find it.

    In my previous research in the Bedford Archives I had picked up that Banns were published for this couple for 3 weeks in the church in which they were married. Yet the marriage certificate (1843) still says "Married in the Parish Church according to the rites and ceremonies of the Established Church by Certificate by me J. H. Whitehead Off. Min."

    In this case, there was no licence, there were Banns for 3 weeks and I still don't understand the reference to the word "certificate".

  10. #10
    Grandadron
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    Hello Malcolm
    Thanks for that info, I had seen that link but it does not answer the question. I googled "marriage by certificate" and found that the term is still used, (for civil marriages). like you I am still confused by the exact meaning, it appears to have meant different things at different times.
    For marriages post 1837, confusion seems to arise because certificates were issued as a matter of course, but the references to marriage by certificate, that I have found were from the mid 1600s. there were other marriages from the same period by Banns or Licence.

    Ron

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