What does this mean?

[olliecat]

Ah! I see the actual marriage is on ANC** in the St Dunstan and All Saints Marriage Register. The groom's name is written as Britain at the top and then signed Brittain below.

So perhaps the 'sd' is some code used with Pallots index, possibly short for

...signed Brittain or

...said Brittain

On the actual marriage, the groom is from "this parish & the hamlet of MEOT" and the bride is from "this parish & the same hamlet".

[Kerrywood]

The entry comes from Pallots Marriage Index I found on A******. The groom is Wm G Brittain, and the bride is called Elizabeth Bath, both of MEOT, she is single, the groom has just his name with (sd) in brackets under it. ... when you look fat the marriage of Elizabeth Bath, the grooms name is mispelt, but it is corrected underneath in brackets with the letters sd, it appears he was a bachelor.

Now that we know you are looking at an index (not the register), and that the letters are lower case, suddenly all becomes clear.

In Pallot's Marriage Index the letters sd on an index slip stand for signed. This shows how the groom signed his name, using a different spelling from that used by the clerk who filled in the details in the body of the register.

In this case, the image in the London Parish registers database shows the spelling BRITAIN used in the body of the register, but the groom has signed BRITTAIN.

Witnesses to the marriage were Ro(bert?) VAUGHAN and Daniel PRICE. Price was the parish clerk at St Dunstan Stepney.

(It doesn't help that Ancestry has indexed this marriage under BAILAIN instead of BRITAIN.)

EDIT: Well beaten by olliecat this time!

[olliecat]

Actually, I've been puzzling over the signature on the bride's section. I keep staring at it but cannot see it as Elizabeth Bath. Something short for Elizabeth perhaps or is it a faded out Elizabeth - or has my eyesight just gone wonky.

[Kerrywood]

Actually, I've been puzzling over the signature on the bride's section. I keep staring at it but cannot see it as Elizabeth Bath. Something short for Elizabeth perhaps or is it a faded out Elizabeth - or has my eyesight just gone wonky.

I read it as Lydia BATH (not Elizabeth). Well spotted!

[olliecat]

I read it as Lydia BATH (not Elizabeth). Well spotted!

I too thought Lydia but didn't dare mention it. I tried to make it into a Lizzie but failed.