Poss cross border marriage

[Kippen]

Cannot find marriage for Alexander Graham born near Etal in 1823 and Sarah Johnston poss born in 1824 at Berwick ,though cannot confirm because of no marriage. Alexander was a catholic and she was not. First child was born at Tweedmouth in 1845,some were born in Berwick later they moved to North sunderland. Found nothing in GRO. Because of religon I checked cross border marriages at both Berwick and Bolbeck hall but that period was missing.Any ideas would be appreciated.

Kippen

[Michael Dixon]

Kippen,

The English law that made it mandatory for all marriages in England/Wales to take place in a "Parish" church ( i.e. The Church of England) was removed with effect from 1st July 1837.

So Catholics, etc, could then marry in their "own" church. The amended law also introduced marriage in a Register Office.

But some English folk still crossed into Scotland to marry, for reason of youth of intending spouses/without parental permission.

You say you checked cross border marriages at Berwick and Bolbec Hall, but what marriage places/churches did you check?


Michael Dixon

[Kippen]

Thanks Michael for your info.I checked all available cross border marriages in the Berwick area but in both places pages were missing for that period. I did not check any churches as I presumed that they would then have to be on GRO.I did not check the catholic church as he was osracized by his family for marring a non catholic,although I have not found any baptisms for
any of their children.

Kippen

[Michael Dixon]

Kippen,

You use a different search strategy to me. For an event I search all possibilities in a particular area in a particular era. If successful, I spread out geographically and extend my time window.

You say that you have searched ""ALL cross border marriages in the Berwick area"... "but in BOTH places"

Did you browse through the Coldstream Bridge records.

You are right that if a marriage took place (in England) after July 1st 1837, it should have been registered in/with the appropriate Register Office (e.g. Berwick for Berwick and Tweedmouth area, Belford for North Sunderland area)
and show up in GRO(England/Wales)

Civil Registrations of BMD in Scotland did not start until 1855.

Although some English folk who crossed into Scotland to marry did use the various "Scotch Priests" to give them the bare bones of a marriage, others married  in churches of their particular religious denomination.

A small hint from me... do not plan your search strategy on your "oral history"... Oral histories can include errors and inaccuracies.

Am I right that Alexander/Sarah only had one child born in Berwick-upon-Tweed (William 1849)... the others been born Tweedmouth and North Sunderland.

From censuses 1851,61 it would appear that Joan/Joanna was their first child ( b.c1845).  But I notice the birth registration of a William in Sept 1843, followed by a death registration in Sept 1844. ( The English/Scottish Naming Patterns would have "required the couple to name their first son, after the child's father's father  , which I think was William ! )

It would appear that Alex/Sarah followed the law of the land and fastidiously registered the births of their children  (first eight at least). This doing of their duty would allow me to have the hunch that they also baptised their children in some church(es) !

Did you know Sarah's maiden name (Johnston) from the middle name of her child Henry ( although Stephen's second name seemed to have been Johnson).

I noticed on Census 1841 in Tweedmouth, there were two Alexander Grahams... both bakers, one 17, one 20 yrs.

Michael Dixon

[Michael Dixon]

Oops.. I made a blooper... at line two I should have written " unsuccessful"... MD

[Kippen]

Thanks again.Sorry by both I meant Berwick & Bolbeck Hall .I looked up all that they had,I do not think that I saw any for Coldstream. I agree that oral histories are often inaccurate as I have found in the past,but non of the family have been RC since Alexander though maybe his children were baptised RC as non of his children appear in the records of North Sunderland.The children of his son William were all baptised in that church.Sarah's maiden name Johnston appears on the birth certificates of her children.Alexander's father was William and his grand-father was Alexander.Alexander had several brothers living near Berwick and most of them had sons called William and Alexander.The grave stone at N S names all the children that predeceased them and William of 1843 is not named. You are correct in your information regarding the children.

Kippen

[martin_j]

Hi Kippen,
I've just come across your posts on Alexander & Sarah Graham and John Graham (former NU director).  I'm not able to add any information on your immediate queries but just to let you know that Alexander & Sarah were my wife's GG grandparents.  If you wish to contact me directly to exchange any information, use mj_ances"AT"tiscali"DOT"co"DOT"uk.  I've passed this contact on to some other members of the wider Graham family.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Martin J.