Where do you get a copy of Midlothian Marriage certificate prior to 1855?

[Bernadette105]

Looking to find Marriage certificate for Patrick Clancy and Mary Barclay. They married 23 September, 1854.  Where could I order one and do you know what information would be on the certificate? It was most likely RC. Any guess as to which Church they would have married?

Thank you so much,
Bernadette

Patrick Clancy m Mary Barclay 23 Sep 1854 Inveresk With Musselburgh, Midlothian,

[Ruskie]

Scotlands People OPRs:
http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/search/oprmarriage/index.aspx
(there is one result)

Information on OPRs:
http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/Content/Help/index.aspx?r=554&613

[Forfarian]

Basically, you don't. Statutory civil registration started in 1855. Before that marriage certificates did not exist.

As Ruskie suggests, try the Roman Catholic church records at www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk

[Bernadette105]

Thank you... I didn't quite understand that. I will try Scotlandspeople site. Being able to ask these kinds of questions has been so helpful. I appreciate it.

Bernadette

[Gadget]

Just to say that the marriage is not in the Catholic Registers. It's in the common or garden Old Parish Registers.  You'll get it via Ruskie's first link.


Gadget

[Bernadette105]

I found the marriage record on http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/ but I found it in the OPR section not the catholic register.  Does that mean they were not RC?  The heading reads that it is a OPR marriage Inveresk and Musselburg.  Or did RC's marriages show up in OPR as well.  The actual hand written entry only says they were of this Parish.

Slow but steady wins the race.. we are making progress.

Thank you,
Bernadette

[Forfarian]

In theory the Church of Scotland was supposed to keep a record of all marriages and baptisms in its parish, but for a variety of reasons this was rarely, if ever, achieved. So the listing in the OPR does not necessarily mean that they were not RC.

[Bernadette105]

Thank you all for you help!  Going to scotlandspeople.org.uk has been a big help. I have found the marriage record of Patrick and Mary.  I have found Patrick's death record which takes me back another generation and I have found the RC church.. St. John's Portobello where at least some of the children are baptized.

There is no direct connection to where in Ireland they came from so my next question is what was Musselburgh, Inveresk Midlothian like in 1850's-1870's?  And did they have an influx of Irish from a particular county in Ireland? 

I am going to post this question separately to see if others may know.  I appreciate all of your work so much. 

Sincerely,
Bernadette

[Forfarian]

I can't answer the question about what Musselburgh was like, except to say that it was a fishing port with coalfields nearby. Have a look at http://www.musselburghmuseum.org.uk/the-museum/musselburgh-museum-and-heritage-group/

You could get some idea from the 1861 and 1871 census, which would also tell you how many Irish were there, but not necessarily where they came from in Ireland. It would be possible, but expensive, to do this on the Scotland's People web site, however.

Is there a LDS Church Family History Centre anywhere within reach of you? See https://familysearch.org/ask/help#localResource 

If so, go there and ask them to get you the microfilms of those censuses. There will be a small charge for renting them. When they arrive, you can then read through the whole census at no further charge, and get an idea of what the principal occupations were and how many of the people had moved in from outside.