I believe that the large numbers can be explained in part by financial considerations. Apparently the Collegiate Church claimed the right to the fees for marriages in the parishes in their area. This meant that couples who married in their local church had to pay twice. Not surprisingly, therefore, many couples chose to be married in the Cathedral and thus pay only one fee. George -------Original Message------- From: Chris Watts Date: 03/04/12 13:58:10 To: [email protected]; [email protected] Subject: Re: [SOG-UK] Banns - how long before wedding? >> It was such a cattle market at the Collegiate Church that >> nobody >> would be likely to notice any number of transgressions of rules. > > I think its generally regarded as having been a "no questions asked" > place to get married - a bit more up-market than The Fleet, and not as > far away as Gretna. So probably as long as the appropriate fee changed > hands any old banns would do! :-) > > hugh I thought that it just happened to be the parish church for the best part of central Manchester and there was no alternative until well into Victorian times But I stand open to correction. Chris ------------------------------- 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