Marriage certificates indicate the person 'Of this Parish'. Does this mean residing at that time or place of birth? I have a forebear married at St Philip in 1804 and the record states he was of this parish, but there is no record of his birth in the area. Help on this query would be greatly appreciated. Eric.

I thought it meant the person had lived there for a year or more. I have received certificates that state "sojourner" - a temporary stay or a brief period of residence which I understood was less than a year. Their spouse may be "of this parish". Christine West Yorkshire ----- Original Message ----- From: "beric" <beric@net-tech.com.au> To: <ENG-WARKS-BIRMINGHAM-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, February 01, 2007 1:56 AM Subject: [B'ham] Correct interprretation Marriage certificates indicate the person 'Of this Parish'. Does this mean residing at that time or place of birth? I have a forebear married at St Philip in 1804 and the record states he was of this parish, but there is no record of his birth in the area. Help on this query would be greatly appreciated. Eric.

It simply means they had lived there for the necessary time to qualify for banns being read there - it could be a little time as 6 weeks. There was a term 'sojourner' which was sometimes added to 'of this parish' to mean they didn't have a permanent home in the parish ( i.e. were in lodgings). But unfortunately, it says nothing about their place of birth. If, as others have suggested, they survived until the censuses, you could tell if they were born in Warwickshire or not in the 1841, and may have an exact place of birth in 1851. Otherwise, you could try looking for settlement certificates which sometimes are a source of information about where a person was born. HTH Anne On 1 Feb 2007, at 01:56, beric wrote: > Marriage certificates indicate the person 'Of this Parish'. > Does this mean residing at that time or place of birth? > I have a forebear married at St Philip in 1804 and the record states > he was of this parish, but there is no record of his birth in the > area. > Help on this query would be greatly appreciated. > Eric.

Hi Eric Of this Parish means they were taken to be residents of the Parish at the time of the marriage , which could be as little as three weeks. It does not preclude that they were born there but does not mean they were. Best wishes Nivard Ovington, in Cornwall (UK) > Marriage certificates indicate the person 'Of this Parish'. > Does this mean residing at that time or place of birth? > I have a forebear married at St Philip in 1804 and the record states he > was of this parish, but there is no record of his birth in the area. > Help on this query would be greatly appreciated. > Eric.

Eric: Nivard has used the right phrase - "taken to be residents of the parish...[for] as little as 3 weeks". But even that may not be true. All that you can deduce for certain is that they told the church officials that they were residents and had been for 3 weeks. In a rural parish you could be sure that this was true, as everyone knew everyone. In Birmingham you can be sure of nothing. No checks were done - the church simply took the statement of the to-be-weds on trust. There were so many people, and populations shifted so quickly, that the church had no way at all of knowing who their parishioners were. So why would people tell an untruth? Simply because they wanted to marry at a particular church. This might be for lots of reasons, and it happened on a large scale. Even today many people don't marry in their local parish. As recently as 1950, my own parents gave a false address - that of my mother's aunt - so as to be able to be married at Oldbury Christchurch in the Black Country, although they lived in the next parish. And in the 19th century there were many inhabitants of rural Warwickshire, Worcestershire or Staffordshire who wanted a day out in the big city for their wedding. Good luck Paul Prescott > Of this Parish means they were taken to be residents of the Parish at the > time of the marriage , which could be as little as three weeks. > > It does not preclude that they were born there but does not mean they > were. > > Best wishes Nivard Ovington, in Cornwall (UK) > > >> Marriage certificates indicate the person 'Of this Parish'. >> Does this mean residing at that time or place of birth? >> I have a forebear married at St Philip in 1804 and the record states he >> was of this parish, but there is no record of his birth in the area. >> Help on this query would be greatly appreciated. >> Eric. > > _____________________________________________ > Tracing Ancestors in Birmingham: > http://www.bham.de/ > > Any problems, please contact the List Admin: > ENG-WARKS-BIRMINGHAM-admin@rootsweb.com > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > ENG-WARKS-BIRMINGHAM-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' > without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >

Eric you are right about 'nobody checked'....I took ages to 'find' my lot, believing official records....huh!....John Shaw was divorced here in Oz and married again, stating he was a widower...his former wife was very much alive and well. Did I know that - no!....his second wife, also said SHE was a widow....I believed her....THAT was when I thought 'official' records were the truth....how silly was I. I was looking for a wedding of a divorced man and a single woman. Well, they were, they just lied. Why did they, goodness knows.....yes, I eventually thought sideways and twigged that...shock horror...some people lied to officialdom.....his wife was another story...born one name, used another, got married in another one and died with first name back to front.....did anybody tell the truth with anything??? AND they tell you to work backwards....well, the death was in the wrong name, why would I look for a Ann when she died under Sarah ..aagghh....then John decided (or somebody did) to call himself Francis...shall I go on?$%^&*. Robyn, old. oz. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Paul Prescott" <paul@toranean.demon.co.uk> To: <eng-warks-birmingham@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, February 01, 2007 8:33 PM Subject: Re: [B'ham] Correct interprretation > Eric: > > Nivard has used the right phrase - "taken to be residents of the > parish...[for] as little as 3 weeks". But even that may not be true. All > that you can deduce for certain is that they told the church officials > that > they were residents and had been for 3 weeks. In a rural parish you could > be sure that this was true, as everyone knew everyone. In Birmingham you > can be sure of nothing. No checks were done - the church simply took the > statement of the to-be-weds on trust. There were so many people, and > populations shifted so quickly, that the church had no way at all of > knowing > who their parishioners were. > > So why would people tell an untruth? Simply because they wanted to marry > at > a particular church. This might be for lots of reasons, and it happened > on > a large scale. Even today many people don't marry in their local parish. > As recently as 1950, my own parents gave a false address - that of my > mother's aunt - so as to be able to be married at Oldbury Christchurch in > the Black Country, although they lived in the next parish. And in the > 19th > century there were many inhabitants of rural Warwickshire, Worcestershire > or > Staffordshire who wanted a day out in the big city for their wedding. > > Good luck > > Paul Prescott > > > >> Of this Parish means they were taken to be residents of the Parish at the >> time of the marriage , which could be as little as three weeks. >> >> It does not preclude that they were born there but does not mean they >> were. >> >> Best wishes Nivard Ovington, in Cornwall (UK) >> >> >>> Marriage certificates indicate the person 'Of this Parish'. >>> Does this mean residing at that time or place of birth? >>> I have a forebear married at St Philip in 1804 and the record states he >>> was of this parish, but there is no record of his birth in the area. >>> Help on this query would be greatly appreciated. >>> Eric. >> >> _____________________________________________ >> Tracing Ancestors in Birmingham: >> http://www.bham.de/ >> >> Any problems, please contact the List Admin: >> ENG-WARKS-BIRMINGHAM-admin@rootsweb.com >> ------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >> ENG-WARKS-BIRMINGHAM-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' >> without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >> > > > _____________________________________________ > Tracing Ancestors in Birmingham: > http://www.bham.de/ > > Any problems, please contact the List Admin: > ENG-WARKS-BIRMINGHAM-admin@rootsweb.com > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > ENG-WARKS-BIRMINGHAM-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' > without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > -- > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG Free Edition. > Version: 7.5.432 / Virus Database: 268.17.17/661 - Release Date: > 30/01/2007 11:30 PM > >

I think it means they had resided there for a certain minimum time. Today I think it's 3 weeks J beric <beric@net-tech.com.au> wrote: Marriage certificates indicate the person 'Of this Parish'. Does this mean residing at that time or place of birth? I have a forebear married at St Philip in 1804 and the record states he was of this parish, but there is no record of his birth in the area. Help on this query would be greatly appreciated. Eric. _____________________________________________ Tracing Ancestors in Birmingham: http://www.bham.de/ Any problems, please contact the List Admin: ENG-WARKS-BIRMINGHAM-admin@rootsweb.com ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ENG-WARKS-BIRMINGHAM-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Eric, I think that you will find that to be "of this parish" you only had to attend church for a very short time perhaps 3 weeks then have the bans called. Ken B ----- Original Message ----- From: "beric" <beric@net-tech.com.au> To: <ENG-WARKS-BIRMINGHAM-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, February 01, 2007 11:56 AM Subject: [B'ham] Correct interprretation > Marriage certificates indicate the person 'Of this Parish'. > Does this mean residing at that time or place of birth? > I have a forebear married at St Philip in 1804 and the record states he > was of this parish, but there is no record of his birth in the area. > Help on this query would be greatly appreciated. > Eric. > _____________________________________________ > Tracing Ancestors in Birmingham: > http://www.bham.de/ > > Any problems, please contact the List Admin: > ENG-WARKS-BIRMINGHAM-admin@rootsweb.com > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > ENG-WARKS-BIRMINGHAM-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' > without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >