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General => The Common Room => The Lighter Side => Topic started by: Karen Durrant on Wednesday 15 July 20 11:31 BST (UK)
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Hi Just interested. When did marriages start to be reported in newspapers? Not the wealthy or well known people, but ordinary everyday people, when did they appear in local papers? For example, a marriage in early 1940's would it be likely to have photographs of bride and groom, or just their names and dates?
Thank you in advance.
Karen Durrant
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Not sure about the early 1940s, as that was a difficult time, but certainly in the 1930s local papers carried extensive reports of ordinary people's weddings. Often including complete lists of the gifts, which are quite fascinating, and descriptions of the bride's dress.
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Report of my parents' wedding appeared in their local paper in mid 1940s - think it was quite usual, so you should find ones from that era. Also found ones from 1930s, again with pics.
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Thank you for the replies. Can I ask another question relating to the first? If I live at a distance from the area the wedding took place, how would you trace the report for the wedding? Would it be local libraries? Would it be a google search (local library near....?)
Any suggestions appreciated.
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I find them on Findmypast, which is a subscription service. Do you have a sub. to any of the genealogy sites?
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British Newspaper Archive which is available on Findmypast [as TOTH said] or separately. There are people here who subscribe so if you post the names/dates/place they can tell you whether it's worthwhile taking out a subs yourself. They can also transcribe the article [but not post an image here].
I think main libraries are more likely to have then than local libraries.
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I think I'd try the files of local papers at the time - and perhaps contacting a relevant local history society, where there may well be someone willing to go through the files?
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If you are close to London the British Library may be worth a visit
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Thank you again for the replies.
The marriage I was looking for more information on is September quarter 1941 in West Ham, Essex. Her name is Gertrude Durrant and she married Charles Fox. I was hoping his parents would be named and also I would love a photograph.( I understand people cannot post photographs from earlier replies to my query.)
Ilive near Blackpool so at a distance to investigate myself which is why I have asked how I might proceed. I do have access to The Genealogist website and for a couple of weeks I also have access to Ancestry Premium membership. My membership finishes in August. I couldn't find anything in my searches.
Again, many thanks for any help you can give. Just point me in the right direction!
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Sorry! erased, wrong marriage!
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Didn't people have to pay to have birth, marriage or death (BMD) notices published in their local newspaper (as they do now)?
In my experience, actual articles about marriages (with lists of guests and gifts) tended to feature the children of prominent citizens.
Karen -- if no one here is able to find a marriage notice for you, my suggestion would be to contact the local library, which might have indexes of BMDs as well as copies of the local newspaper on microfilm. For this type of (non-automated) search, though, it's better if you can supply them with an exact date, so you'd probably need to purchase the marriage record first.
Regards,
Josephine
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At the time I mentioned - 1930s- local papers had full reports of quite ordinary folks' weddings and funerals, as well as extensive reports of whist drives, socials and other meetings. Not sure if this would apply in West Ham, as my background is rural.
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Top-of-the-hill, I hope it didn't sound like I was suggesting you were wrong. I was just writing about my own experiences.
Regards,
Josephine
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That's OK - it's all any of us can do!
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Thanks! :)
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In the 1960s / 1970s, many local papers did not charge at all to publish reports and photographs of local marriages. Some did send a reporter to the event if people had paid for a formal marriage announcement, but my local paper, when we married, did not charge.
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Thanks for the replies everyone. Much appreciated to hear your ideas.
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My wife's grandparents married in March 1930. Their wedding, including photograph, was reported in the local paper. We still have the cutting.
Fisherman
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I have the cutting of my grandmother's funeral, (1937) with the names of those who attended and the names on the floral tributes. There is one name listed that I cannot work out who on earth it was!
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I have the cutting of my grandmother's funeral, (1937) with the names of those who attended and the names on the floral tributes. There is one name listed that I cannot work out who on earth it was!
I have one for my greatx2 grandmother in 1924 and I've no idea who "Granny's little man Cicel" is. :-[ >:(
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It was a newspaper account of a family funeral that helped me sort out who-was-who in a bunch of people with almost the same pair of names, in our family! The helpful report not only "arranged" the names in order of closeness to the deceased, but also recorded "...son of Thomas and...." etc, which really was useful.
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This is interesting...maybe your local library would be worth looking into:
https://newsroom.shropshire.gov.uk/2020/04/coronavirus-ancestry-libraries/
Carol
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My own was in the local paper in 1964.
Louisa Maud
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The "Births Marriages and Deaths" column has gone through changes over the years.
Death announcements have always been there.
Birth announcements and marriage announcements have depended more on fashion. Sometimes birth announcements were more common, sometimes marriages. Even now there is snobbery about which newspaper an announcement appears in.
I remember coming across an editorial comment (late 19th century?) to say that in future, death entries, unless they were of a "no frills" style, would no longer be published for free. Presumably that forbade people announcing the location of the funeral, or comments like "after a long illness", unless the family could afford it.
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My county library gives members free access to British Library Newspapers via the Gale website.
I've had varying results with my searches, some successful and some not. This could be attributed to the fact that the library doesn't have copies of a specific local newspaper. Unfortunately neither of your names appeared in the relevant year.