Unregistered St James Presbyterian Marriage Alnwick

[Nova67]

"...in St James Presbyterian Church, 15 ult., Mr George Rogerson, shoemaker, to Miss Elizabeth Donaldson, both of this town"

Alnwick Mercury, Mon 1 Sep, 1856

(Appears under Marriages (at Alnwick).

Elizabeth seems to have died 12 July 1858 at Alnwick. Per Morpeth Herald Sat  17 July 1858.

Deaths (July) 12 inst, aged 21, Elizabeth, wife of George Rogerson, shoemaker.

I am interested if there are is any non-conformist record with any details of this marriage as it appears to have not been registered, having looked at the indexed page for either surname.

[dawnsh]

Suggest you contact the register office at Northumberland where the registers are kept as you have the exact date and place.

http://www.ukbmd.org.uk/genuki/reg/districts/alnwick.html

The marriage has most probably been entered in a register but not made it's way into the GRO indexes, probably due to lateness of the return.

[Nova67]

Thanks Dawn. I suppose I would have to pay for that info from Australia, which involves ringing up?

[dawnsh]

Try emailing Alnwick

http://www.northumberland.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=3480

explain you are in Australia and that the marriage doesn't exist in the GRO index but you have the date and place and could they check the registers for you.

They should only charge if you want a copy of the cert but they most probably won't give you anymore free information such as ages, occupations, and fathers details.

[Nova67]

Thanks Dawn for your assistance.

I have just emailed Alnwick. I am mainly after Elizabeth's father who would be Robert Donaldson, deceased, a labourer.
They appear to have had one son before she died. So many early deaths in this family and I think she may be another one. It would be nice to know after all the tragedy there are some descendants of this part of the wider Wanless clan I am researching.
Hopefully it can be clarified that she is likely the the correct one.

[Nova67]

Heard back promptly from Alnwick but it was suggested that the couple may have married across the border with Scotland (so would not be shown on GRO index) and then they could then have had a blessing in St James Alnwick 

[andycand]

Hi

Marriage in Scotland is certainly a possibility. Whilst a quick search of Statutory Marriages on Scotlandspeople and Familysearch.org finds no likely matches Irregular Marriages were recognised in Scotland (Gretna Green blacksmith is probably the most well known but there were many other places) so, if for example with the bride being under 21 permission to marry was refused they could have eloped to Scotland.

In 1856 in England only Church of England, Jewish and Quakers marriages were recognised, for other denominations such as Catholic, Methodists, Presbyterians etc a Registrar needed to be in attendance and the marriage was recorded as a Civil Marriage at the Local Register Office, If the Local Register Office don't have a record then tracking down the Church Records for that period would be your best option.

Andy

[Elwyn Soutter]

An irregular marriage did not require the presence of a clergyman. Irregular marriages were by exchange of promises before witnesses, by betrothal and consummation, or by cohabitation and repute, and were forms of marriage recognised by Scots Law, yet may have taken place without any official record of the event. They remained a lawful form of marriage until the Marriage (Scotland) Act of 1939, which effectively replaced them by register office ceremonies. (Not previously an option in Scotland).

See:

http://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/socialpolitical/research/economicsocialhistory/historymedicine/scottishwayofbirthanddeath/marriage/

[Nova67]

Thank you for those responses. I will read more carefully in the morning Elwyn.  I still hope if someone is going to the Archives that they can check the parish records for me.