Thank you to Caroline and Eve for the information they both supplied. I have a much clearer picture now. Many thanks - June "The Fleet" refers not only to the prison itself but to a quite substantial area surrounding it, known as the Rules of the Fleet or the Liberty of the Fleet. This was a kind of no-man's land, separate from the jurisdiction of the parish authorities. Prisoners who could afford it (or whose relatives and friends could) were able to move about and even lodge within this area. Most "Fleet marriages" took place, not within the prison buildings themselves but in other premises within this area, such as rooms above pubs. The celebrants tended to be rather disreputable clergy who had fallen foul of the church authorities and who found a lucrative living marrying couples without asking too many questions. Although they were described by the civil and religious establishments as "clandestine" or "irregular" because they were not carried out under the auspices of the Church of England, they were not always the hole and corner affair which you might suppose. Some couples were runaways looking for a quick hitch but by no means all. And, as you have seen, records were kept which were not significantly different from those made by the Church of England at the time.