General enquiry re marriages

[stanmapstone]

Strictly is was not allowed by the Hardwicke marriage Act, but couples would "live" in the parish for three weeks to qualify.
Steve

To become "of this parish", what they apparently did was rent a room, and leave a bag of clothes there. That was enough to be able to put the banns up, and also why "of this parish" is of no use to us whatsoever when trying to trace them!

Three week residence comes from the requirement to give the minister seven days notice, then the two weeks between the reading of the banns.  No minister was obliged to publish banns unless the parties delivered to him at least seven days before the time required for the first publication, a notice in writing giving their names, address within the parish, and the time they had been living there.The seven days' notice was not always insisted on, especially when the minister was acquainted with the parties so the residence could be two weeks. No legal penalties were incurred if false statements were given as to the place of abode in which they  "dwelt, inhabited or lodged" and the length of their  residence in such place. Although the minister should decline to publish the banns after the discovery of any false statement. A continuous unbroken residence was not necessary during this short period. Non-residence in the parish in which the banns were published did not affect the validity of the marriage once the ceremony had been performed.
In large parishes it was impossible for the clergyman to make personal inquiries respecting persons who may have taken up temporary or nominal residence for the purpose of having the banns published in the parish church.

Stan

[KGarrad]

Hi There

If I remember it was mentioned at a U3A group I belong to that familysearch put a lot of Somerset marriages down as Bristol but I cant remember the details as I have no research to do in Somerset or Bristol so didn't pay a great deal of attention

All the very best

Phil

I think that stems from the fact that certain parts of what is now Bristol were once in Somerset, until the late 19th Century?

Bedminster, Brislington and Bishopsworth spring to mind.

It's why Somerset County Cricket Club used to play home games at Brislington (WD & HO Wills Sports Ground) within my memory.
And Bristol City FC played in the Somerset Senior Professional Cup.

[clairec666]

I've always wondered why some of my relatives from Staffordshire villages got married in Wolverhampton (the nearest town). I stumbled upon this thread on another forum: https://www.familytreeforum.com/showthread.php/38223-St-Peter-s-Collegiate-Church-Wolverhampton. Perhaps there are similar reasons for your Somerset relatives?

[stanmapstone]

I think that stems from the fact that certain parts of what is now Bristol were once in Somerset, until the late 19th Century?

Over the years there were various city boundary extensions; for example Bedminster which originally lay in Somerset came to be included within Bristol in 1835 and a similar extension took in Knowle and Totterdown in 1897.
By the "Municipal Corporations Act, 1835" the following districts were added
to the city:
1) Clifton.
2) that part of St. Philip & St. Jacob previously without the boundaries of
the ancient city.
3) The district of the united parishes of St. James & St. Paul.
4) Part of the parishes of Westbury and Bedminster.
In 1974 Bristol became a district of the newly formed administrative County of Avon. When that county was abolished on the 1st April 1996, under the Local Government Act 1992 Bristol returned to its former status of a city and county in itself.

Stan

[DRH123]

If I remember it was mentioned at a U3A group I belong to that familysearch put a lot of Somerset marriages down as Bristol but I cant remember the details as I have no research to do in Somerset or Bristol so didn't pay a great deal of attention

I think that stems from the fact that certain parts of what is now Bristol were once in Somerset, until the late 19th Century?

No, it was a real mistake by Familysearch. One of a type they have made several times with their Somerset records: all the records from a microfilm covering several parishes get attributed to the first on the list. In this case the batch was of parishes from the Bristol diocese and the first alphabetically was Abbots Leigh, which happens to be in Somerset. (Several parishes on the southern edge of Bristol were in the county of Somerset but the Diocese of Bristol, long before they were absorbed by the expanding city.)

Couples from north Somerset villages marrying in Bristol - and  Bath and Bridgwater - was a real phenomonon. I've come across many examples.

David

[junket]

Thanks everyone for your input.

I'm still finding them and wondering now, which reason they have