Hi Nivard, When I write my earlier message re my grandparents marrying in Stratford and giving an address there I was trying to save my grandparents blushes. Unable to find any sign of the road given on the marriage certificate of my grandparents several years ago. I contacted Newham Borough Council to ask if they could pinpoint where the road was or had been in the past. They came back and said to their knowledge no such road name had ever existed in the boroughs of what was East Ham, West Ham & Stratford, which now make up the London Borough of Newham. Not only did my grandparents give an address of convenience in the parish but they made up an address. My grandmother, I believe, was brought up in the Methodist church and my grandfather was baptised CofE. Maybe neither of them were bothered about lying to the vicar about whether they were of the parish, they just wanted to marry before my grandfather sailed off again I suppose. There is a family story that my grandmother stowed away on my grandfather's ship, I don't know if this was before or after their marriage. It could have been prior to their marriage and she could have stowed away when his ship was sailing from Hartlepool down to London and they married there before he sailed off elsewhere. Either that or, as I said before grandma, went down to Stratford to meet up with grandfather when he returned from a voyage. Maybe she went on a voyage with him after their marriage. I will never know but there must be a grain of truth in this family tale, there usually is something of the truth in these stories. I don't think grandfather's family approved of my grandmother though I don't know why, except they were middle class and she was working class. This might be why they married 300 miles away from their home town and their respective families. After they married they continued to live in Hartlepool, grandfather continued working as a seagoing 1st class engineer until his death. Regards Jenny DeAngelis -----Original Message----- From: Nivard Ovington Sent: Saturday, July 28, 2012 8:33 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [MDX] Qualifying for "Of this Parish" Hi Jenny I have often seen mention of the leaving of clothes or a suitcase for three weeks in a Parish to qualify for "of this Parish" My question would be, how do they know? As the Vicar or Registrar was not looking for an excuse *not* to marry a couple, I would have thought the mere statement that they were of this Parish would be enough, I do not see either a Vicar or registrar going around knocking on doors to try and prove the couple were telling the truth, neither would know everyone on their patch In the same way, no proof of age was asked for neither was proof of the fathers name, occupation or if alive or dead As there is no record kept of the seemingly mythical suitcase I am more inclined to believe they simply made the statement and it was accepted Another reason they may have married so far from home, could be that they could not marry at a home Parish, either because they did not have both parents blessing or some other reason Nivard Ovington in Cornwall (UK) On 28/07/2012 18:34, Jenny De Angelis wrote: > My Grandparents married in Stratford East London, a short walk from where > the Olympics are being held at the moment, but they both lived in > Hartlepool County Durham in the North East of England. My grandfather was > a > merchant seaman and must have been in the London Docks and grandma went > down > to marry there. They gave an address in the Stratford area and said they > were both of that parish but maybe my grandfather had arrived the required > 3 > weeks beforehand and took up lodgings there in order that they could marry > in the parish. Either that or my grandma moved down to Stratford to lodge > for that period of time until granddad returned from his voyage and they > could marry. > > I have also been told that all that would be required in order for someone > to say they were of the parish in which they wanted to marry, was to leave > a > suitcase of clothes in a house in that parish for the required 3 weeks or > so, they didn't necessarily have to live there. > > Regards > Jenny DeAngelis