London, England, Clandestine Marriage and Baptism Registers

[..claire..]

Hi all

In Anc* collection " London, England, Clandestine Marriage and Baptism Registers ", I've been looking at a marriage in March 1731 of an Ann ALLEN. I can read most of the record bar the last two words which appear to say " at home".

Those words appear on most of the records on that page, can anyone tell me what it means ?

 Thanks in advance for any help

claire

[Viktoria]

I`m not sure if it is the same in earlier certs but in later ones ---if regarding a woman it meant she was a housewife and not employed outside the home.Sometimes it says "home duties".
If a man perhaps a home worker, for example a  handloom  weaver- having a loom at home.
                                                          Viktoria.

[..claire..]

Ah! Of course, can't believe I didn't think of that 

Thank you so much Viktoria

claire

[smudwhisk]

I think the "at home" in this register refers to where the marriage actually took place, more than likely the officiating minister's home.  The phrase appears in a lot of marriages on the page, many of which are for parties who didn't come from London.  In this context I don't think it has anything to do with where they practiced their trade.  Many Fleet marriages took place in local pubs as well as the Fleet Prison.

[..claire..]

Thanks for that smudwhisk, that does make sense 

Married in a local pub, well I live and learn something every day

claire

[Treetotal]

My Great Grandmother got married at home and it is entered where the marriage was solemnised and it says "Home of the Bride"
Carol

[horselydown86]

Smudwhisk is correct - the name of the collection and the date (before Hardwicke's Marriage Act came into force in 1754) are the giveaways.

If this is new to you, Google "clandestine marriage" and read some of the references.  "Fleet marriages" are another name for the same thing.

Scanning the pages around your entry shows that this Minister was using his home plus a number of public houses, coffee-houses and barbershops for his business.  (The pages immediately before are by another minister.)

The popularity of clandestine marriages was a thorn in the side of the official ministers, whose churches were deprived of the income from those marriages.

[Viktoria]

Claire, you did not say what the last column was for, I wrongly assumed it was for occupation.
Sorry if I mis-led you. Viktoria.

[..claire..]

Viktoria

No need to apologise at all, there were no columns in the register, just a few written lines 😀
You didn't mislead at all, and it did seem quite logical as the grooms occupations were written in.

Claire