Maybe discrimination, but also maybe a way to be sure that those who might not be familiar with the process of the wedding did not intrude or make fools of themselves. I have known people who were invited to a wedding in a faith different from their own to choose to sit at the back so that they could get guidance from what the folk in front of them were doing as regards sitting, standing, etc. Not to say that it may not hurt when it is imposed upon one, but the motivation may not be one of discrimination so much as guidance. Happy hunting!   Diana Robinson (nee Gardner) Now in Rochester, NY, USA -----Original Message----- From: Louis Mills [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Sunday, February 02, 2014 2:09 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [LIN] Richard BRANT/Jane THACKER marriage licence find.1736/7 We are surprised, sometimes, to find out how "controlling" employers could be in the 1700s and 1800s.  You worked from sun-up to sun-set, were'nt allowed to marry, if you could read, you kept that to yourself (employers thought educated employees were a threat to the "harmony" of their roles), and sometimes you had to express political beliefs similar to the employer to keep your job. I thought a lot of those ideas had died out, but my own mother-in-law had similar ideas - she certainly thought any employee was at her beck and call and was furious once when an employee was in the bathroom and didn't come right away when she called.  She also wanted to stay in an elder care facility where all the employees were of her same religion.  I told her that this was no longer legal, but she insisted that an employer should be able to only hire people of a certain faith.  I personally had the experience of being treated with prejudice when I was 18 and tried to get a job at a paper-box factory.  I was a legal immigrant, but they said they'd only hire U.S. citizens.  I could have probably sued them and become the owner of the paper-box factory, but I found another job and forgot the legality of the matter.  But it smarts.  Prejudice leaves a mark on you. I was one of the few white men at a Ethiopian wedding once.  We were made to stand and sit in the back, instructed in how to eat (only using the "clean" hand), and told that we could not talk unless one of the monitors had given us a "talking" stick - a stick that grants you the right to speak. A good cultural experience perhaps, but discrimination none the less.       Lou