C of I Church Records

[Lance Matthews]

Can someone please explain what by licence with consent of their master and mistress means, as shown below.

Robert Matthews of this parish and Jane White of this parish were married in this church "by licence with consent of their master and mistress", this twenty-ninth day of Sept. in the year One thousand eight hundred and forty one by me: Thomas Harpur, Rector.

[corisande]

As I understand it, getting married by licence avoided the need for banns to be published in the parish of both bride and groom.

It was a more, shall we say, discrete way of getting married, as it was not publicised.

I have not come across "with consent of master and mistress", but I would assume that both bride and groom were servants of the same.

You had to pay for a licence, so presumably the employers paid here.