Another great explanation from Ruth Paley and Roy Stockdill Jean in Nova Scotia jphwhite@ns.sympatico.ca ----- Original Message ----- From: "Roy Stockdill" <roystock@compuserve.com> To: <CHESHIRE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, February 26, 2001 6:32 PM Subject: [CHS] Hardwicke's Marriage Act Ruth Paley wrote..... >>Joni has asked me to explain Hardwicke's Marriage Act. It was an Act of Parliament passed in 1753 which only applied to England and Wales. Until then it was possible to marry under common law - each party had to declare that they were marrying the other and that was it - no need for a church or a priest. For those who wanted a priest (and there were plenty who did) you could have a service of sorts and it did not matter where the ceremony was performed. There was no need to register a marriage and not surprisingly it was quite often difficult for people to know whether a legal marriage had been contracted or not. Hardwicke's Marriage Act required couples intending to marry to do so in the parish church or other public chapel after the calling of banns (public notice of their intention to marry) on three successive Sundays. Those under 21 required the consent of their parents/guardians, although the age of marriage remained unchanged (still 14 for a boy and 12 for a girl). The marriage had to be conducted by an ordained minister of the Church of England: the only exceptions allowed (until 1837) were for Jewish and Quaker ceremonies. Couples wishing to avoid the calling of banns could do so by obtaining a licence from the bishop or archbishop or other senior ecclesiastical officer, but this was very much more expensive. The public registration of the marriage also became compulsory -which is why family historian's lives get much easier from then on!<< FURTHER to Ruth's excellent explanation, it is worth noting that the Act was subtitled: "An Act for the Better Preventing of Clandestine Marriages." Until Hardwicke's Marriage Act came into force (in 1754, though it was passed through Parliament the previous year), the most notorious places for the conducting of clandestine marriages were prison chapels, especially in London's infamous Fleet Prison where 217 marriages were performed the day before the Act came into operation. Many registers of clandestine marriages in London are at the PRO. Dissenters could not marry outside the Church of England (except for Jews and Quakers, as Ruth stated) until the Dissenters Marriage Act of 1836 was passed, after which they could marry in their own chapels or civil ceremonies. Roy Stockdill, Editor, The Journal of One-Name Studies The Stockdill Family History Society Web page:- http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/roystock Web page of the Guild of One-Name Studies:- http://www.one-name.org "Never ask a man if he comes from Yorkshire. If he does he will tell you. If he does not, why humiliate him?" - Canon Sydney Smith (scholar and humorist 1771-1845) CHESHIRE interests - PLEVIN and WILLIAMS at Nantwich/Acton-by-Nantwich, pre 1814 ==== CHESHIRE Mailing List ==== Cheshire Surnames Interest Directory: http://www.fhsc.org.uk/surnames/ --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.230 / Virus Database: 111 - Release Date: 1/25/01