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General => The Common Room => Topic started by: lydiaann on Thursday 31 December 20 13:53 GMT (UK)

Title: Banns and marriage
Post by: lydiaann on Thursday 31 December 20 13:53 GMT (UK)
I know there is usually - these days - only a short while between the 3rd reading of the Banns and the actual marriage, but would there be a limit now or at any other time?  In one of my lines, I have a reading of the banns in the middle of one year (mid-1800s) and a marriage just over 2 years later (same couple).  Would the vicar/priest have insisted on a re-reading - especially if the 'living' had changed hands and he didn't know the couple?  And is it Church Law or English Law that Banns be promulgated 3 times before the marriage?  It is possible that there was a reason for the hold-up - maybe family illness, or one of the couple being ill for some time, etc. - but I haven't found anything to suggest this.  This is more idle speculation than anything that's necessary to the tree, but I was intrigued.
Title: Re: Banns and marriage
Post by: Jebber on Thursday 31 December 20 14:16 GMT (UK)
I may be wrong, but I believe the marriage had to take place within six months of the calling banns. If there wasn’t a re reading of the banns, look to see if the marriage was by licence.
Title: Re: Banns and marriage
Post by: Top-of-the-hill on Thursday 31 December 20 15:24 GMT (UK)
  I have a similar puzzle. The couple had their banns read in 1844 in a small village, but didn't marry, which was a little odd as they had two children, one either side of that date. They eventually married in 1851 with no banns so I assumed it was by licence, but when I saw the marriage register at the archives there was no mention of either banns or licence! Are 1851 licences for the Canterbury area available anywhere?
Title: Re: Banns and marriage
Post by: lydiaann on Thursday 31 December 20 15:32 GMT (UK)
Thanks Jebber.  I thought there should be a 'statute of limitations' (for want of a better term).  I'll keep picking away and see if I can find a re-reading or a licence.  I know when I got married (1966) it was common practice to read the banns for 3 Sundays and then the marriage taking place the Saturday after the last reading.  Sometimes, the 'crossover' between Church and State or even between different Churches (RC, Methodist, non-conformist) can itself be quite challenging - and we think bureaucracy is OTT now!!
Title: Re: Banns and marriage
Post by: jonw65 on Thursday 31 December 20 15:41 GMT (UK)
If Stan was online I am sure that he would post and say the marriage had to take place within three months of banns being called :)
https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=834502.msg6994502#msg6994502
Title: Re: Banns and marriage
Post by: BumbleB on Thursday 31 December 20 15:42 GMT (UK)
TOTH - strange that the parish register doesn't indicate whether the marriage was by Banns or Licence.  I have a number of register entries around that time and they all state Banns or Licence.


Added:  - was this marriage in the South of England?  I can see a couple of marriage entries for one of my families, and the format of the parish register is slightly different from that used in the North of England. 
Title: Re: Banns and marriage
Post by: Top-of-the-hill on Thursday 31 December 20 16:22 GMT (UK)
  I assume it was an error on the part of the rector, I was most put out! That register does not seem to have been put on line.
   It was in the Canterbury area.
Title: Re: Banns and marriage
Post by: Jebber on Thursday 31 December 20 17:08 GMT (UK)
There is plenty of information on line.

I knew there was  time limit but was not sure of the length. My own marriage was in a Congregational Church, so instead of Banns, the announcement of the forthcoming marriage was displayed at the Register Office.

Banns
If a couple have a legal entitlement to marry in a parish and wish to marry in the parish church (or a public chapel in the parish holding a Bishop’s Licence for weddings), the usual preliminary for the wedding is the publication of banns.

Banns are read in the church where the wedding is to take place and in the parishes where each party resides.

An application for the calling of banns must be made to the minister of each parish where banns are to be called, which should be 7 days in advance of the Sunday when it is hoped the reading of the banns will be commenced. Banns must be called on three Sundays (not necessarily consecutive Sundays) prior to the wedding and a certificate of publication must be obtained.

A marriage after the calling of banns must be solemnized within three months of the last occasion on which banns were called.