Hi, I have to disagree with Roy's statement, that 'You never get the names of fathers on pre-1837 marriages'. Occasionally, albeit too rarely, the priest does occasionally add notes to the margins or include names of parents. Also, if the marriage was conducting BY LICENCE instead of the normal after banns, then you have another reference point in the licence itself, and these usually do have father's names and sometimes mother's names as well. Maureen

From: "Maureen Downes" <[email protected]> > I have to disagree with Roy's statement, that 'You never get the > names of fathers on pre-1837 marriages'. > > Occasionally, albeit too rarely, the priest does occasionally add > notes to the margins or include names of parents. > > Also, if the marriage was conducting BY LICENCE instead of the > normal after banns, then you have another reference point in the > licence itself, and these usually do have father's names and > sometimes mother's names as well.> You may well be correct, Maureen, but I don't recall ever seeing a parish register marriage entry in which the fathers' names were given. We Yorkshire experts have the famous Dade Registers to enthuse over, in which substantially more detail was given than normal, but these relate purely to baptisms and not marriages. It was a very conscientious vicar indeed who added parents' names and I suspect this probably only occurred at marriages of the upper classes and nobility and not the hoi polloi! As for marriages by licence, I think it tends to depend on whether the father was a bondsman and mentioned in the allegation. The licence itself very rarely survives because it was given to the groom to give to the vicar. -- Roy Stockdill Professional genealogical researcher, writer & lecturer Newbies' Guide to Genealogy & Family History: www.genuki.org.uk/gs/Newbie.html "There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about." OSCAR WILDE