Can anyone give me any information on the United Church of England and Ireland ? Presumably nonconformist ? My 2xgt Grandparents RICHARD BULL and EMMA HODGES were married in 1843 in this church at Ocle Pychard. Any information welcome on the ancestors of RICHARD BULL b. 1803/4 Much Cowarne and son of another RICHARD BULL farmer. TIA JOHN RICHARDSON Tarrington>>>>NZ

Hi John >>Can anyone give me any information on the United Church of England and Ireland ? Presumably nonconformist ?<< The marriage certificate itself should indicate whether Non-Conformist and if so also the sect. At the top of the form it will have where the marriage took place something along the lines of "in the xxxx chapel in the district of xxxxx". Note that the "District" is that of the Registration District or Sub-district where the marriage took place and is NOT always therefore the actual place. The name of the chapel should make this clear (although not always I'm afraid!) Then under the entry there will be two things of relevence. In 1843 few NC chapels were "authorised places" in the terms of the Marriage Act, and so the "legal" marriage was actually a civil one, conducted by the Registrar of the District, and so there will be the signature of the "officiating minister" *plus* that of a registrar, who actually attended the chapel and confirmed the marriage as legal, whilst entering the details in his *own* register, which he took with him to the wedding. It will also say something along the lines of "according to the rites and ceremonies of the Independants/Methodists/Baptists/etc by Certificate/Licence" This will indicate the sect and also whether the marriage was by Registrar's Certificate (the equivalent of calling Banns in a parish church) or by Licence granted by the Registrar. If the heading merely says "in the parish of" and the marriage was conducted "according to the rites of the established church after banns/by licence" and there is only one signature (that of the officating minister) then you are dealing with the Church of England, and it may be that the "Church of England and Ireland" was just being used as a "fancy" name for the established church, which at that time of course would also have been the established church in Ireland. HTH Polly Rubery List owner: MIDMARCH-L@rootsweb.com A genealogy and local history list covering the Counties of Brecon, Hereford, Monmouth, Shropshire, Stafford and Worcester ROWBERRY-L@rootsweb.com ROWBERRY/RUBERY ONS - GOONS #278 rowberry@one-name.org http://www.rowberry.org Webmaster for the Herefordshire Family History Society http://www.rootsweb.com/~ukhfhs/index.html