Banns

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I understand that for a marriage to be lawful, banns must be read in church; they are just an announcement of intention to marry so people can put forward reason's why the marriage may not lawfully take place. They are read in the parish where each spouse lives and in the parish in which the marriage will take place, for three Sundays during the three months before the wedding, often the three consecutive Sundays before.
However, is there a "qualifying period" for a spouse to have lived in a parish before they can have banns read in that parish, i.e. so it appears on the marriage certificate "of this parish" instead of "out of this parish" etc.?

[LizzieW]

I don't know the answer to your question, but I do know you can marry without banns, even in a church.  You can marry by licence.

[Ruskie]

I believe it is three weeks.

It often happened that the potential groom moved to his future wife's parish to avoid paying the fees for Banns to be read in two parishes.

[stanmapstone]

The minimum is three weeks. Three week residence comes from the requirement to give the minister seven days notice, then the two weeks between the reading of the banns.  No minister was obliged to publish banns unless the parties delivered to him at least seven days before the time required for the first publication, a notice in writing giving their names, address within the parish, and the time they had been living there.The seven days' notice was not always insisted on, especially when the minister was acquainted with the parties so the residence could be two weeks. No legal penalties were incurred if false statements were given as to the place of abode in which they  "dwelt, inhabited or lodged" and the length of their  residence in such place. Although the minister should decline to publish the banns after the discovery of any false statement. A continuous unbroken residence was not necessary during this short period. Non-residence in the parish in which the banns were published did not affect the validity of the marriage once the ceremony had been performed.
With a common licence the marriage was required to take place in church or chapel where one party has already lived for 4 weeks. It was also good for 3 months from date of issue.
Stan

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Thank you stanmapstone
The question was for the marriage of Caroline Mabbott and John Henry Stead at Marylebone in 1826. Caroline was from Nottingham and John from London - or according to one tree, Canada. So when you say

.......a notice in writing giving their names, address within the parish, and the time they had been living there.
Stan

Did distance matter, as they were an announcement of intention to marry so people can put forward reason's why the marriage may not lawfully take place and nobody local would know both spouses.

[stanmapstone]

Did distance matter, as they were an announcement of intention to marry so people can put forward reason's why the marriage may not lawfully take place and nobody local would know both spouses.

I see that the marriage was in Marylebone, so the question of people knowing the spouses would not be as important in the really large urban parishes, as opposed to those in small towns and villages,  In fact the Marriage Laws Commissioners in an 1868 report  said that it seemed universally agreed that no really valuable publicity was attained by banns in populous places.

Stan

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Thank you.
I was "reading more into" it; banns had to be read in church for a marriage to be lawful, whereas, an announcement of intention to marry so people can put forward reason's why the marriage may not lawfully take place would be more important in rural areas.