<<For more historical background of why such a ?palaver? to get married in the 1760s, go tohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marriage_Act_1753 With it all, it still didn?t get me any closer to whether I am descended from the mid-1700s ?lot? from York. There?s enough information to write book, however.>> Cynically, and a bit tongue in cheek, I suspect that lawyers needed to use "legalese" as a secret language to keep the need for their services intact. If just anyone could write a marriage contract (I know, I know, many were not at all literate to start with), why would they need the services of a Legalese specialist? (Also, were they perhaps paid by the word??? <very evil grin> That said, I'd love to read any book written by Maisie! Carole Kenney On Jul 24, 2013, at 3:00 AM, [email protected] wrote: > > For more historical background of why such a ?palaver? to get married in the 1760s, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marriage_Act_1753 > > With it all, it still didn?t get me any closer to whether I am descended from the mid-1700s ?lot? from York. There?s enough information to write book, however.