Jean wrote: > I have the following entry - "Dec. 6th, 1825 - John Main of this > Parish and Mary Finlay of the parish of Dyke being matrimonially > contracted since married". > This was extracted from the Nairn Parish Records. I have often > wondered what it all meant. A year or two back, I did spend some time looking at around 100 "marriages", in a range of parishes, and over a range of dates in the 18th and 19th centuries, to try and establish some patterns. What emerged was that, throughout the 18th century (and decreasingly in the 19th) the first stage in any marriage came even before the Proclamations. This was variously labelled, sometimes as a "contract", but more commonly as the "Consignation of Pledges". This meant that the loving couple either deposited a sum of money with the Session, or, if they were too poor, persuaded some friend or relation to do so on their behalf (he then became their "cautioner"). This deposit was to ensure their "performance and abstinence". "Performance" meant that the marriage actually had to take place, and "abstinence" meant that no children were to be born until 9 months after the ceremony. If both conditions were met, you could, in theory, get your money back, but you might have been subject to moral blackmail to convert the sum into a "gift" to the poor of the parish. > From what I now read in this list there > would have been a marriage contract of some sort In the light of what I have previously seen, I would interpret the "matrimonial contract" that you have found just such a "pledge of performance and abstinence", rather than as any sort of financial agreement. > and they were married, but where? in the Parish of Dyke? in the > Parish of Nairn? and would that have been earlier than > Dec. 6th, 1825? Where indeed? And When indeed? The entries in the "marriage" register frequently do not tell us. In fact, in the sample I had, fewer than half of the entries even referred to the marriage itself. The largest proportion of them (slightly more than a third) referred to one or other of the readings of the Proclamations. The others refrred to the Consignation of Pledges. > Are these marriage contracts searchable and if so, where? Not separately. As you have already discovered, they appear in the so-called "marriage" registers, and if you read what is actually in those, rather than rely on the IGI reference to them, you will find more such examples. The other place where you may find some reference to the Consignation of Pledges is the Kirk Session records. These are mostly now at the national Archives in Edinburgh, but you have to go there yourself, or senda researcher on your behalf, because thay have not been digitised or indexed. And, as with anything in the KS records, it is a matter of luck whether you find anything - they are very variable. If you are lucky, the information in the KS records and in the OPRs will complement each other - but then you really are being lucky! Gavin Bell

Hi List Just a small cautionary addendum to Gavin's excellent summary. Gavin wrote: > .... The other place where you may find some reference to the > Consignation of Pledges is the Kirk Session records. These are mostly > now at the national Archives in Edinburgh, but you have to go there > yourself, or send a researcher on your behalf, because they have not > been digitised or indexed. And, as with anything in the KS records, > it is a matter of luck whether you > find anything - they are very variable. Our experience was very mixed: part disappointment, part brilliant. When we went to the National Archive [NAS] to look up some Aberdeenshire Kirk Session records we were very disappointed to discover that the two parishes we were specifically interested in were not available. Apparently the records were often missing due to mice, damp or indolence, and possibly crime or amnesia. So don't assume there will be a record available. But when there is one, it is full of additional detail and interesting stories. Well worth a visit if you can get there. As the index is in a dodgy set of paper binders, maybe we should all press for the NAS to at least put up an index of Parish KS records that are available in Edinburgh, with the dates covered. Best wishes for 2005 Ray Hennessy http://www.whatsinaname.net/index.html ----- Original Message ----- From: "Gavin Bell" <g.bell@which.net> To: <MORAY-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, December 28, 2004 11:08 AM Subject: Re:[MORAY]Marriages and Banns > Jean wrote: > > > I have the following entry - "Dec. 6th, 1825 - John Main of this > > Parish and Mary Finlay of the parish of Dyke being matrimonially > > contracted since married". > > > This was extracted from the Nairn Parish Records. I have often > > wondered what it all meant. > > A year or two back, I did spend some time looking at around 100 > "marriages", in a range of parishes, and over a range of dates in the > 18th and 19th centuries, to try and establish some patterns. > > What emerged was that, throughout the 18th century (and decreasingly > in the 19th) the first stage in any marriage came even before the > Proclamations. This was variously labelled, sometimes as a > "contract", but more commonly as the "Consignation of Pledges". This > meant that the loving couple either deposited a sum of money with the > Session, or, if they were too poor, persuaded some friend or relation > to do so on their behalf (he then became their "cautioner"). > > This deposit was to ensure their "performance and abstinence". > "Performance" meant that the marriage actually had to take place, and > "abstinence" meant that no children were to be born until 9 months > after the ceremony. If both conditions were met, you could, in > theory, get your money back, but you might have been subject to moral > blackmail to convert the sum into a "gift" to the poor of the parish. > > > From what I now read in this list there > > would have been a marriage contract of some sort > > In the light of what I have previously seen, I would interpret the > "matrimonial contract" that you have found just such a "pledge of > performance and abstinence", rather than as any sort of financial > agreement. > > > and they were married, but where? in the Parish of Dyke? in the > > Parish of Nairn? and would that have been earlier than > > Dec. 6th, 1825? > > Where indeed? And When indeed? The entries in the "marriage" > register frequently do not tell us. In fact, in the sample I had, > fewer than half of the entries even referred to the marriage itself. > The largest proportion of them (slightly more than a third) referred > to one or other of the readings of the Proclamations. The others > refrred to the Consignation of Pledges. > > > Are these marriage contracts searchable and if so, where? > > Not separately. As you have already discovered, they appear in the > so-called "marriage" registers, and if you read what is actually in > those, rather than rely on the IGI reference to them, you will find > more such examples. The other place where you may find some reference > to the Consignation of Pledges is the Kirk Session records. These are > mostly now at the national Archives in Edinburgh, but you have to go > there yourself, or senda researcher on your behalf, because thay have > not been digitised or indexed. And, as with anything in the KS > records, it is a matter of luck whether you find anything - they are > very variable. If you are lucky, the information in the KS records > and in the OPRs will complement each other - but then you really are > being lucky! > > > Gavin Bell > > > > ==== MORAY Mailing List ==== > MORAY OPR's. The OPR's for the Moray area are now starting to be > transcribed and volunteers are needed. Would anyone interested in > transcribing the OPR's for our area please contact me via my usual > email address or visit the Moray Rootsweb pages and contact me via the > mailing list Admin. > > ============================== > Search the US Census Collection. Over 140 million records added in the > last 12 months. Largest online collection in the world. Learn more: > http://www.ancestry.com/s13965/rd.ashx >