Marriage Licence Query

[David Lea]

Good Morning

I've obtained the following two documents excerpts from FindMyPast which relate to the marriage of my 4 x Gt Grandparents at Wybunbury, Cheshire in 1794.

Am I correct in saying that these documents are the actual 'Marriage Licence' for the betrothed couple? Also, would it be normal practice for the male party (and one other) to enter into a financial recognisance, in this case £500? This seems a tremendous amount of money for 1794?

I know that the named, 'James Palin' is the groom but would I be correct to assume that the named 'Thomas Palin' would be James' father? I note that the bride's father is specifically named as such as 'Nathaniel'.

I've only ever seen the basic marriage register records before, so these documents are new to me.

Many thanks

David

[stanmapstone]

A visit to the clergyman issuing the licence resulted in three documents, an allegation or affidavit, a marriage bond and the licence. Bonds were a very common legal device. By entering into a bond a person would agree for instance that a statement was true, for a marriage  that there was no "lawful let or impediment" to the proposed marriage. If this was not the case  a penalty was due to the church official concerned, if the marriage did not take place the bond was irrelevant. A marriage bond would mention the two people who wanted to get married, not just one.  By the late 18th Century the penalty was £200. I would expect that they would not have to prove they had the money. After 1823 bonds ceased to be necessary.
You can see examples of a Marriage Bond, Allegation, and Licence at http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,438148.msg3016813.html#msg3016813
The actual wording varied over the years.

Stan

[stanmapstone]

 As the original licences were generally handed to the parties concerned they will not have survived.
See https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Marriage_Allegations,_Bonds_and_Licences_in_England_and_Wales

Stan

[David Lea]

Thank you Stan for your very informative reply which does help explain things.

Reading through the attachment notes you suggest, it does state that the two witnesses are usually 'the groom, his father or a friend', so whilst I can't be certain 'Thomas' will be his father, he most likely probably is and this would obviously be a good starting point for further research.

Thank you again for your help.

David