I had this reply today from Devon Records Office on a search for an 1847 Diocese of Exeter marriage allegation for a marriage in St Merryn. Does anyone have any ideas where else I might search ?
"I have checked the Marriage Allegations for Cornwall, as requested. This series of records have not been indexed by surname. On examination of the reference MBA Box 33 – Cornwall, I found that there were only two allegations for Cornwall 1847, neither of these were for the couple’s marriage. From January 1843 to December 1876, the allegations for the whole Diocese were bound into six-monthly volumes, each with its own index. (ref: Chanter 141 to Chanter 150 and Chanter 567 to 624). I then checked the bound volumes in the Chanter series for this period, reference Chanter 149 which contains allegations, but these all refer to Devon marriages, and none for Cornwall, as far as this particular volume was concerned. The marriage licence itself was issued to the person intending to marry and he or she gave it to the celebrant in the parish where the marriage was to be performed. In some Dioceses the licences were returned to the Diocesan registry to be filed. However, there are not any actual marriage licences among the Exeter Diocesan records. Sometimes they survive in small numbers among the records of the particular parish, or in family collections where the licence was returned to the bride and groom, but generally they have not survived on a long-term basis.
The allegations form a generally, but not totally complementary series. Not all of the original allegations survive. Only some survive from the 1720's onwards. The Devon ones become a full series from about 1755 and the Cornish ones from about 1772, and both run through to December 1842. I am not sure where those post 1842 for Cornwall are held."
I'm interested in seeing if the allegation has any detail at all as the groom was from Stratford, Essex and was my 3x great grandfather who was the consulting engineer engaged by Trinity House for the building the Trevose Head lighthouse at this time.
thanks for any help, Pete
