Was it legal for first cousins to marry?

[jillruss]

I think I may have broken down a bit of a brickwall but it depends whether or not it was/is legal for first cousins to marry.

This is in the mid 1700s in Berkshire.

I've been looking for a Mary Clifford baptism around 1720s for ages. She had a 'baseborn' son in 1747 - it's just occurred to me that she may have been married or widowed and still have had an illegitimate son. Don't know why it took me this long to try it (especially as it happened in another of my branches) but, anyway, it did!

I found a marriage of a Thomas Clifford and Mary Harris in 1742 in Reading and then the death of a Thomas Clifford in Reading in 1744 (no age given, so not definitive proof).

Then Mary Clifford has her baseborn son in Bray, Berkshire in 1747. But, why Bray?

Then, I found that Mary Harris , baptised in Reading, had a sister Sarah Harris who married William Smith in Bray in 1737 and - guess what?!- it looks as though their daughter Sarah Smith married the baseborn William Clifford in Bray in 1766.

So, there's the Bray connection!

But it all falls down if first cousins couldn't marry!! Please tell me they could! Please!!

Jill

[Necromancer]

seems OK under current law .... and I have an example of 1st cousins in the 1870s ...

http://www.weddingguide.co.uk/articles/legal/prohibited.asp

hopefully others will have more knowledge ,,,

[stanmapstone]

Yes, they could. It was not only possible for first cousins [cousins-german] to marry each other; it was also quite common, having been legalized in the 1540s.


32 Hen VIII, c.38(1540). [Marriage]. (Precontracting & Degrees of Consanguinity).  
Which says in effect that all marriages were valid unless prohibited by God’s laws.
2nd . July 1540.
Stan

[yn9man]

Was possible and quite common. 

yn9man

[stanmapstone]

When parliament legalized marriages between first cousins, it was determined that only those marriages expressly prohibited in the Bible should be forbidden, and nowhere did the Bible indicate that cousin marriage was undesirable. Following Henry’s reforms cousin marriages were freely permitted by the main Protestant churches in England and in the colonies.

 
Stan

[mshrmh]

I found 3 pairs from the same family in the 1860s (in this case the fathers were brothers) - well it was a small village
My ancestor was another brother of the fathers (phew)!

[Guy Etchells]

There is a page of those prohibited by Consanguinity or Affinity at
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/%7Eframland/acts/affinity.htm
It could shed some light.
Cheers
Guy

[jillruss]

Wow!  I hadn't realised it was such a common occurrence.

Actually, browsing the IGI for Bray and Reading, it seems that there were a few Clifford/Harris marriages, so obviously a close knit community.

Thanks everyone. Another problem solved! 

Jill

[carol8353]

My grandparents were first cousins and they married in 1923. Their dad's were brothers.

My hubby says that explains a lot................

Carol