Would someone please explain what type of marriage records might exist, and where to find them for the Wedmore area of Somerset? Was there both civil and church weddings at that time? I do not think William WALL was Catholic, as he helped build, and was a member of a Methodist-Episcopal Church upon his arrival to the U.S. I am looking for two different marriages, for my g.g.grandfather and his first and second wives: William WALL b.1832 mar. Jane BAKER - they were married by 1859, possibly earlier. the other: William WALL b.1832 mar. Eliza Ann COX sometime between Aug 1860 and the end of 1863. Their first born child was b.10 Jan 1863. I appreciate any help you are able to offer! Karla Staudt staudt@cptelco.net Ticonderoga, NY, U.S.A.

Hi Karla There is quite an interesting bit on this subject in article on the development of these records at: http://ndad.ulcc.ac.uk/datasets/AH/statistics.htm under Registration of births, deaths and marriages. To summarise it though, All marriages performed after 1535 should appear in the appropriate parish register, often in the wife's parish, as it was traditional for the bride's father to pay for the wedding - but as with everything there are many exceptions to this rule. However, after 1 Jul 1837 he could marry in a non-conformist church or chapel if it was licenced and if the registrar or his deputy was in attendance, so you will either need the register for the church or to look in the GRO's [General Register Office (GRO) ] fiche (see below), but some non-conformists still used the parish church. And after 1 July 1837 marriages could take place as a civil ceremony at the Registry Office, but not many initially, until the idea caught on, especially amongst the non-conformists and those who couldn't afford all the ceremony etc. And you will only find these events recorded in the GRO's index. So if your marriage took place after 1 July 1837 and you can't find the event recorded in the register where you would expect to find it your first port of call will be to order the fiche for the GRO. Mark Howells, husband of Cindy, has produced an excellent guide to on how to do this at: http://www.oz.net/~markhow/ukbirths.htm using information held by the Mormons. I expect you are aware that All Marriages at Wedmore 1561 to 1839 can be seen at: http://members.tripod.com/gloomchasers/parrec.html Unfortunately due to civil registration most transcriptions stop around 1837-1840. We shouldn't forget that they are in the process (10% of the way thru') transcribing the 100,000,000 Births, Marriages and Deaths from the GRO from 1837-1900 and the results can be seen at: http://freebmd.rootsweb.com/ and already I've found a couple of events that I've been looking for years. There is also a useful article on Civil Registration at: http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/civreg/ which might explain anything missed so far :-) However, having said all that the GRO's Index is not faultless and there are errors - see A Comedy of Errors at: http://globalgazette.net/gazfd/gazfd38.htm Any further contributions gratefully received :-) Do hope I haven't confused the situation too much ! regards Paul Portland On Fri, 23 Mar 2001 16:00:33 -0500, you wrote: >Would someone please explain what type of marriage records might exist, and >where to find them for the Wedmore area of Somerset? Was there both civil >and church weddings at that time? I do not think William WALL was Catholic, >as he helped build, and was a member of a Methodist-Episcopal Church upon >his arrival to the U.S. > >I am looking for two different marriages, for my g.g.grandfather and his >first and second wives: > >William WALL b.1832 mar. Jane BAKER - they were married by 1859, possibly >earlier. > >the other: > >William WALL b.1832 mar. Eliza Ann COX sometime between Aug 1860 and the end >of 1863. Their first born child was b.10 Jan 1863. > >I appreciate any help you are able to offer! > >Karla Staudt >staudt@cptelco.net >Ticonderoga, NY, U.S.A. > > >==== WESSEX-PLUS Mailing List ==== >Ordering BMD Certificates and how much: see >http://www.statistics.gov.uk/nsbase/registration/certificates.asp >http://www.statistics.gov.uk/nsbase/registration/certe_w/fees.asp > >