George: Thank you very much for your response to my query and for the info you sent. I had the dates for the marriage through the IGI and it showed the parish register the date was taken from. What I was want was something that confirmed what the IGI was saying for as you know you can't always trust it. Your info has helped a lot. Thanks again Bruce Moorhouse From: eng-durham-request@rootsweb.com Subject: ENG-DURHAM Digest, Vol 4, Issue 153 To: eng-durham@rootsweb.com Date: Mon, 14 Sep 2009 01:02:00 -0600 --Forwarded Message Attachment-- From: NEGenealogy@aol.com To: ENG-DURHAM@rootsweb.com Date: Sun, 13 Sep 2009 06:43:45 -0400 Subject: Re: [ENG-DURHAM] Sadberge look up please In a message dated 13/09/2009 00:15:18 GMT Daylight Time, brucemoorhouse@sympatico.ca writes: If anyone has access to the Sadberbe pr. registers would you kindly look up the marriage of George Wastell and Jane White 10 May 1777 and, if the register has an index, the burial for Jane a year later in 1778 at Sadberge. Bruce: The burial was: 1778 Jan 26 Jane wife of George Wastell farmer Sorry I can't help you with the marriage. However, what was it you hoped to get from the original entry? Can I take it you are aware that in the period after 1 January 1754 and before 1 July 1837 all you are likely to get will be the names of the parties, the parish they were living in immediately before being married (if not "this parish"), a statement that they were bachelor/spinster or widow/widower (not always given), the name of the officiating clergyman and the signatures of two witnesses, plus the signatures (if they could write, just an "X" if they could not) of the parties. What you should hope for is that theirs might have been one of the few (less than 10%) of weddings which were held by Licence, instead of after the calling of Banns on three separate Sundays, which was the usual way. If so, then the bridegroom would have had to have made an Allegation and then entered into a Bond a short time (usually just a day or two) before being granted the Licence and being able to marry. The Bonds and Allegations for Durham Diocese are kept in Durham University Library, Archives and Special Collections and the details of them all to about 1812 were extracted, typed up and indexed about a century ago. In the 1990s they were re-worked, to about 1820, and published on microfiche by Original Indexes, and are now available on microfiche and CD from the NDFHS. They would not tell you a lot, though, just the names, ages, addresses (probably that just means the parish) and occupations of each of the parties, together with the same information (not the age) of a Bondsman (surety), who sometimes also turns up as a witness to the wedding. I hope you've persisted in reading this far because, having written that last paragraph I decided to take a look at my own microfiche version of the Bonds and Allegations. I find that they had indeed married by Licence. It was the usual way among the more wealthy families or among those where speed was important. I think we might put a farmer's family into the first category. They wojuld not want their employees to know all their family business. The Bond and Allegation were dated 23 April 1777 and the parties were George Wastell (21), of Elbay Hill, Haughton, yeoman, and Jane White (22) of Sadberge. The Bondsman was William White of Sadberge, yeoman. As you know, Jane unfortunately died the next year. George didn't waste any time in re-marrying. There is another Bond and Allegation dated 6 April 1779 between George Wastell (21) ("21" means "over 21" and says nothing about have far over they were) of Ellihill, Haughton, yeoman, and Mary Wrangham (18) of Little Burdon, Haughton. The Bondsman was William Wrangham, Little Burdon, Haughton, yeoman, and a note says "William Wrangham is her father". It was usual for the father to be the Bondsman when the bride was under 21, as that ensured that he consented to the wedding. Haughton (le Skerne) is an adjacent parish to that of Sadberge and Little Burdon is in fact the next village west of Sadberge. The two spellings of his farm, "Elbey Hill" and "Ellihill" may be errors in reading the original by the transcriber or they may be differences in writing the name by the ?different clerks at the time. Geoff Nicholson