Thanks for the link, Nova. I did know that Licences had to be paid for, and so assumed that only the more well-off financially ever got them. I didn't think about the time considerations, so that's a very useful thing to keep in mind. Unfortunately, I don't know when either of the parties were born, so cannot say if it could be due to an age gap. Catherine was not pregnant at the time (unless she did not take the child to term), as her first child (James Henry) was born towards the end of 1829.
Capetown, I had forgotten about that post. The newspaper did say that James was of Cork and Catherine of Bristol, but I was hoping for confirmation from the parish records. I suspected that the paper got the abodes around the wrong way, as the Johns family were native to Cork, but the Drabbles are not (they seem to be a Derbyshire family, predominantly, but I can't link to there yet). Nova has answered this one, as they were both recorded as 'otp'.
Since that post I have information that James Henry Drabble, their eldest son, was born in Cork City and not in Bristol as family had suggested. Rebecca, too, was born in Cork in 1834 according to her death certificate (which I did not have in '12).
I am really unsure why they were married in Bristol and not Cork. As I said, all Catherine's family seem to be from Cork and James was working in Cork by 1824, four years before the wedding. The only connection to Bristol I can see is one I haven't been able to confirm: I believe the Rebecca Johns who married Romaine Joseph Thorn in Cork in 1817 is Catherine's sister. Romaine was an accountant and poet and published a number of works in Bristol in the 1790s, and is listed in directories there until 1799. He moved to Cork at the turn of the century and marries there in 1806, 1811 and 1817. He and Rebecca had a son William Henry Romaine Thorn around 1819. By 1832 he is back in Bristol, and he died there in 1850. It is possible that Catherine was living with her sister Rebecca in Bristol for a while in the mid- to late 1820s.... This is all supposition though. I haven't been able to find any substantial proof yet....
Cheers,
Toban
