There certainly are particular churches which seem to have a reputation for slightly "iffy" marriages, if not clandestine wedding ceremonies. Brighton, St. Peter is probably the best known one in Sussex and I think that the then enormous size of its parish meant that its clergy were just too small in number to make proper enquiries of the couples who presented themselves for matrimony. There was also a large transient population moving into Brighton searching for work and that also made it very difficult for the clergy to know their flock. However, it isn't always the huge parishes who attract this kind of "trade". The parish of New Fishbourne, just outside Chichester, has a reputation for clandestine marriages in the late 18th Century. Certainly when I looked at the registers myself, they did seem to show a very large number of people from outside the parish. St. Mary's Portsea probably had a large population of transient workers. Men, in particular, would be attracted to the town to work in the Naval Dockyard in the huge factories set up by Brunel in 1802. What puzzles me about the marriage of Henry BLAXTON and Elizabeth STOREY is that the marriage at Portsea apparently took place in 1735, which is so very early for suspect marriages of this type. Portsea, St. Mary is apparently on the IGI for the period 1666-1773, but the BLAXTON to STOREY marriage does not appear and I have not been able to check the registers myself. So, perhaps after all the Vicar of Poling was right to assume that the marriage never took place and to supply his own special remedy to suit the occasion! What I find equally interesting is that the marriage at Poling on 26 Feb 1737/38 doesn't appear on the Sussex Marriage Index, although it does appear on the IGI. Best wishes Marion Woolgar Bognor Regis, West Sussex