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Scotland (Counties as in 1851-1901) => Scotland => Lanarkshire => Topic started by: colcal on Sunday 20 July 14 08:45 BST (UK)
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Hello ! I understand that on some certificates a cross indicates that the person was unable to sign, but on others some have "signed" in the section of the bride and groom, but it looks as though the hand writing is the same person who has written out the full certificate. Can this happen?
regards colcal
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Yes, because in Scotland, copies of the registers were sent by local Registrars to the General Register Office in Edinburgh, and those are what we see.
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It is the same in England and Wales. Certificates ordered from a local Register Offices, or the GRO are only transcriptions of the original, you will only see the original writing in the parish register, or occasionally if you are lucky enough to receive a photocopy of a an original register.
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There were two books kept. One was retained by the registrar and this was actually signed. He made a copy (all in his writing) which was sent to Edinburgh when complete. When the images were digitised, it was the Edinburgh copy which was photographed. For example the locally held birth registration books had details of vaccination added later. The Edinburgh copies don't show this.
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I always thought it was the other way around? I have seen many, many "original" signatures on certificates at Register House in Edinburgh, even the "X" his/her mark variety. Someone once told me that the original was sent to Edinburgh and a copy made and kept by the local registrar.
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Thank you for all your replies. My family members all got married in Glasgow, does this mean that the original certificate's are kept at the Church where they got married, at the Michell library or were they sent to Edinburgh.
regards colcal
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After the beginning of statutory registration on 1st January 1855 everything was sent to Edinburgh. The only thing the churches ever had was a note of the proclamation of Banns and the date and place, with the names of the bride & groom. The bare bones in other words. Some will say that parents names were included but that was the exception, not the rule.
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There were two copies of the register, one being a copy in the Registrar's handwriting. One copy was sent to Edinburgh and one was retained by the Registrar. Sometimes it was the one with the original signatures that went to Edinburgh, and sometimes it was the copy. It is the Edinburgh copies that were digitised for Scotland'a People.
The local registers retained by the Registrar were sometimes stored in a central repository for the county. For example the pre-1900 retained registers for the whole of the county of Moray were, and I think still are, in the Registrar's office in Elgin, and the later ones were still held by the local Registrars. Likewise the pre-1900 Banffshire ones were, and may still be, in Banff, and the later ones were in the various local Registrars' offices. The pre-1900 ones for Aberdeenshire and Kincardineshire were all in Aberdeen. However I have not visited any of these places for many years because they started charging silly money for access to them in the county and local Registrars' offices. There was talk some years ago of destroying the retained copies of the registers, and I have not heard the outcome of that. Nor do I know where the retained registers for Glasgow were or are kept.
No official certificates were retained by the churches, though the churches probably do keep some sort of records for their own purposes. You have to remember that it was very unusual for a wedding ceremony to be held in a church building, so there was no opportunity for a ceremonial retreat to the vestry to sign the register. Most weddings were held in the bride's parents' home. If she had no parents, or was getting married a long way from home, the next most common place was in the manse (the minister's house). Only towards the end of the 19th century did weddings in hotels, restaurants and halls come into fashion, and church weddings didn't really become the norm until well into the 20th century. I was the (only) bridesmaid at a friend's wedding in her parents' home in about 1978 or 1979.