Heather: There was only a need to enter into a Marriage Bond if the wedding was to be by Licence. Most weddings were after the calling of Banns and therefore no Licence was necessary. The value of using the Marriage Bonds is therefore to see whether, knowing that the wedding was by Licence, there is anything extra to be gleaned from the Bond or from the Allegation which it was necessary to make before entering into the Bond. Just searching the Bonds "on spec" in case there was one, is therefore usually doomed to end in disappointment. Most researchers first track down the wedding and from the parish register entry (or the BTs if in the right period) they discover that it was by Licence and they then proceed to search for the Bond and Allegation. Bonds and Allegations are dated and by comparing that date with the date of the wedding it will be seen that in most cases the wedding was very soon after taking out the Licence - perhaps a couple of days. Sometimes it was even the same day: sometimes, however, it was much later. A Licence seems to have remained in force for about a year (though somewhere at the back of my mind a memory is telling me I have been told it was six months: perhaps someone will know better than I). You ask whether signing a Bond was compulsory. That depends what you mean by your question! It was not compulsory to be married by Licence. As I have said, the majority of weddings were after Banns. However, if it was desired to marry by Licence (and so avoid the publicity of having Banns read and also to avoid having to wait for three separate Sundays to pass), then, having made the Allegation, it was compulsory to enter into the Bond, and that meant signing it (or making one's mark), before the Licence could be issued. Geoff Nicholson -----Original Message----- From: Heather Brain <[email protected]> To: northumbria <[email protected]> Sent: Fri, 17 May 2013 4:03 Subject: [NMB] John Harle Thanks to everyone who did some John Harle research for me. It is most appreciated. I shall now proceed to the Family Search Marriage Bonds and Allegations for that time period and see what I can find. How long before the marriage did one sign the bond, and was it compulsory? Thank you again. Heather Brain Melb. V.A. .. Please remember to snip most of the earlier message before you post any reply...... Thank you! The NORTHUMBRIA FAQ page is located at http://www.bpears.org.uk/NorthumbriaFAQ/ ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message