Did Jewish marriages ever take place in parish churches?

[Treefan]

Some years ago I was told that in times of old within England folk of the Jewish faith had no synagogues to openly attend and so they used to hold their own services in secret behind closed doors with friends & family of the same belief. These were good & honest folk who wanted to live good lives in a good manner and wanted to do the right thing in their own ways which they did in private but in order to fit in with local society they felt the need to make it appear that they conformed to the ways of the locals so that they would not stand out as being different.
I think that I was told that if a Jewish couple wished to marry that they would do so within a Jewish service held in secret behind closed doors so that their faith & beliefs were followed making it very meaningful to them but that they would also have a marriage service carried out in the local parish church making it a legal marriage in the eyes of English law and that this would also make it appear as though they were just ordinary village people marrying in the normal way within the local parish church as would be expected through the eyes of the rest of the local community. Something else that is in the back of my mind was that when people went through such a service they would not wish to sign the parish register in the normal way.  In those times it was very common that people were not educated which reflected in the fact that many were not literate and so they were not able to sign their name and instead they were asked to make their mark which used to be a hand written cross. I seem to recall that Jewish folk going through the motions of having their marriages carried out in the Christian parish churches would not approve of them having to write a cross within the parish register and instead they would make their mark amending it so that it wasn’t crosslike often making the mark of a circle instead.
All of this was something that I was told many years ago and having no Jewish connections myself I had no reason to check out the facts to determine whether they were correct or not. I am also aware that my memory might not have remembered what I was told correctly too as it was quite a long time ago now and sadly the old grey cells are not what they used to be!
I have very recently discovered that I do have Jewish connections after all which is something that I find thrilling & fascinating and therefore my very distant memories need to be checked out after all to see if they do have any resemblance to the truth or not. I especially would like to know about the signing of the marriage registers with a circle if this really was the case. If anyone can possibly help to put me right I would be most grateful.
Thank you.

[Kiltpin]

Sorry, but I have great difficulty believing any of this.

For a start, people who cannot sign their name usually make an X rather than a +. And if they were so adverse to the cross, why, oh why would they get married in a Christian church?

Depending of the level of faith in their religion, they would be easily identifiable by their dress, not least by the kippa or skullcap.

I just cannot see it. Sorry again.

Regards

Chas

[nanny jan]

I agree with Chas;  this might be helpful:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oldest_synagogues_in_the_United_Kingdom

[Jebber]

Until mid 18th Century all marriage had to be performed by a Church of England clergyman, there were often secret and/or bigamous marriages.

The marriage Act of 1753 required all marriages, including nonconformist,  to take place  in the Church of England. Jews and Quakers were exempted from the 1753 Act.

It did not matter what form the mark took, it just had to witnessed.

[Treefan]

Thank you all for taking the time to read & reply.

[Treefan]

Until mid 18th Century all marriage had to be performed by a Church of England clergyman, there were often secret and/or bigamous marriages.

The marriage Act of 1753 required all marriages, including nonconformist,  to take place  in the Church of England. Jews and Quakers were exempted from the 1753 Act.

It did not matter what form the mark took, it just had to witnessed.

Many thanks Jebber, very interesting information.

[Marmalady]

I am pretty certain that my ancestor Moses Levi was Jewish -- with a name like that, it would be surprising if he was anything else

But his first wife and child were buried in the Parish churchyard ( marriage details not traced)

He married his second wife in the Parish church -- and bapt their 8 children there too

This all took place in rural Norfolk in the late 1700s -- so it could be that there wasn't a convenient synagogue or that he wasn't strongly religious and so just fitted in with the village norms

[stanmapstone]

Jews were banished from England in 1290 and not allowed to return until 1656 when Oliver Cromwell leased some land in London for a Synagogue and burial ground. Jews conducted their marriage ceremonies in their synagogues or private houses, but in all cases they kept careful records of their marriage contracts (ketubahs) and marriage registers. To be recognised as a Jewish marriage, both parties must be practising Jews, and details of the proposed marriage collated by the bridegroom's Synagogue  Secretary.

Stan

[Sloe Gin]

There was no obligation to sign with a cross or any other symbol.  People were just asked to "make your mark".  While the majority signed with X, they could sign with anything, and some (especially tradesmen or craftsmen) might have their own individual mark.

I've just been through all mine and am disappointed not to find a trade mark!  But a surprising number of them did sign their names, however uncertainly.  I think a fair number of people learned to do this, even if they would have struggled to write much else.