Bilingual marriage records

[LizzieL]

I have been browsing the St Helier marriage records for the period from 1795 to 1821. The records are entered freeform not in a book of pre-printed form. The clerk has written some records in French and some in English. Presumably the language depended on the language spoken by the bride and groom. Sometimes it is obvious from the entry the "nationality" of the couple. E.g two people with French sounding names residing in the parish of St Helier would be in French, but if both had non-French sounding surnames, particularly if the groom was in the army or navy and one or both were from a parish outside Jersey, the record would be in English.
But if one party was an islander and the other was not - what language would the record be in?


 

[NicoleD]

It would vary! Jersey's population has been a mix of English and French families for a long time. And people in St Helier would be more likely to be English-speaking while people in the rural areas were more likely to be French-speaking.

If you had, say, an English soldier marrying an English-speaking girl from St Helier, the record would likely be in English. But if a Frenchman who'd come to the island to work married a French-speaking girl from a rural parish, it'd be in French. I have both scenarios among my own ancestors!