Dear Ruth, thank you so much for all the information. Given what you have said then perhaps it will be worth ordering the bond. The guarantors names could be very useful. They were established church on this side of the family. It does all fit. Strangely it is the only bond that I can find for my Jenkins/Marsen family. Several girls getting married but only one bond - the earliest of the marriages. thank you again Diana ----- Original Message ----- From: <RufHay@aol.com> To: <powys@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, June 26, 2007 3:54 PM Subject: Re: [POWYS] Marriage Bonds Hi Diana Marriage bonds that I have seen have not routinely had the parents' names but they do have names of (usually) two guarantors of the amount of money stipulated in the bond - in case one of the parties did not go through with the wedding. I think the sum of money was probably notional & doubt if people who got as far as having a marriage bond ever defaulted. One of my ggg grandfathers, Ebenezer Lewis, was bound for £500 in 1807 - and I can't imagine that he or his guarantors could have raised this huge sum of money in those days. He was a Baptist and it was quite common for non-conformists to be married by licence (and therefore need a marriage bond). In this way they avoided the reading of marriage banns on three Sundays before the wedding in the parish church of bride & groom. Apart from non-conformists, it was often members of the upper classes who were married by licence. Best regards, Ruth =================== Visit the Powys Mailing List webpage at: www.jlb2005.plus.com/powyslist.htm ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to POWYS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message