Witnesses on Marriage Cert.

[Dolly_007]

Hello,

Have recently received marriage cert (1856) for my grt grt grandparents - 5 witnesses are recorded on the marriage cert .Bride was 18yrs and the groom 31yrs .I have never seen 5 witnesses recorded on marriage cert -anyone know why they would be ?!

Thanks .

[CaroleW]

Hi Dolly

Are you sure they are all witnesses as there are only 2 lines for witness signatures on a marriage cert

There are a further 2 lines for the bride and groom and one for the person who officiated at the marriage - 5 spaces in all

[Dolly_007]

Hi,

Yes the names are all very close together on the 2 lines for witnesses - the 2 lines for the bride /groom are clear written, as is the person who officiated at the marriage - one of the witnesses is the brides brother ,2 other  men and 2 other women. I thought it may have been because the bride was only 18yrs old - the age for marriage without consent would have been 21yrs then(1856) ?

[Comosus]

I think it may just be a one off case.  I've read cases here where people have certificates with up to 7 people as witnesses.  Sometimes not everything was done by the book; some don't say deceased next to the father, if he was.

Yes, I think marriage without consent was at 21 years in 1856.

Andrew

[Dolly_007]

Thanks for the reply - as you say prob a"one off case" - perhaps a over zealous minister !.

Dolly.

[LoneyBones]

There are probably many reasons why there are more than two witnesses. My own marriage cert. has four. My mother because I was under age, my husband's mother because he was too, and our own choice of bridesmaid and best man.
But all those names are a bonus    they tell you about who else was at the wedding and can lead to lots more information.
Leonie.

[Koromo]

An 1839 marriage cert I received last week had six witnesses. The bride and groom were of 'full age', four witnesses were from her side, two from his. One of the names was of an eleven year old sibling - perhaps he didn't want to be left out!


Koromo

[DudleyWinchurch]

I thought the rule was just that the minimum was 2 witnesses and I didn't think there was any rule at all about representing either party.  It's far from unusual to find that they are the same sex too, although more often two male than two female in my experience of reading through church registers.

Sometimes they just seem to be regular witnesses (maybe churchwardens or people who just like to be there because it's a wedding) and very frequently, when clearly related, they appear to belong to one of the families only.  For my parents, it was his sister and husband and for my paternal grandparents, it was her brother and sister. 

I think that, in recent times,  it has just become traditional to have "best man" and chief "bridesmaid" as they are specifically there by invitation of the bride and groom to witness the wedding.

[Mean_genie]

The law required two witnesses, and in most cases that is what you will see, but there could be more. The age of the parties is not particularly significant, but anyone under 21 (and previously unmarried) would need a consent form signed by their parent or guardian. I have never found any instance where the completed forms were  kept with the marriage register, though.

Mean_genie