Help finding a marriage record - 1700(ish)

[rebeccaclaire86]

Hoping someone might be able to help me with this puzzle, maybe a fresh pair of eyes will do the trick, I keep coming back to this one and drawing a blank!

I can't find a marriage anywhere for my 8x great-grandparents John Pain and Sarah.  John was originally from Uplowman in Devon, he attended university in Oxford and he was the rector in East Quantoxhead from 1698 onwards.  His and Sarah's first child that appears in the East Quantoxhead parish registers in 1702 so I think they likely married between 1698 and 1702 (it could have been earlier, but I've looked at all the Pain/Paine/Payne individuals in the parish as it wasn't a local name, and there are no marriages or burials of anyone that could be an older child baptised elsewhere, though they could have died in infancy elsewhere). 

They most likely married in Somerset, Devon or Oxfordshire, but I can't find a marriage anywhere that looks right.  The ones I've discounted - and most were unlikely anyway due to distance - are:

John Pine & Sarah Wethered in Luton - discounted as they had a son baptised in Biggleswade.

John Pain & Sara Carter in Tadlow, Cambridgeshire - discounted as they had children baptised in Tadlow.

John Pine and Sarah Hitchcock in Trull, Somerset in 1700 - discounted as they had children baptised in Trull.

John Pine and Sarah Hugins in Lincoln in 1700 - discounted as the parish register shows he was a Baker.

Jean Payn & Sarah Le Manquais in St Martin, Jersey in 1701 - discounted as they had children baptised in Jersey.

John Paine & Sarah Holliday in Bicester in December 1702 - discounted as the dates don't work as their oldest son was baptised in East Quantoxhead in November 1702.

Any ideas?  There are no wills as most of the Somerset ones were lost.  I am drawing a total blank, but just keep coming back to it thinking there MUST be a marriage somewhere as he was a rector himself (though I suppose never assume!).  Thanks in advance for any help

[BumbleB]

Not sure whether you've got this - from The Clergy Database website - http://theclergydatabase.org.uk/

[BumbleB]

Or this 

[Marmaduke 123]

I wonder where John was between 1692, when he was ordained a priest, and 1699 when he was appointed rector of East Quantoxhead? It would seem a bit unusual to be appointed rector without any more lowly positions first.
My experience with the clergy database is that it takes a while to locate all records relating to an individual, they don't always seem to come up in a name search . I assume you have tried all name variations. It might be worth looking at everything under East Quantoxhead and nearby parishes.

[arthurk]

As he was ordained priest in 1692, it seemed likely to me that he could have married that early too. And since he was ordained in Oxford, it seemed reasonable to look for a marriage there too.

I've found a possible in Woodstock, 29 Sep 1692: John Paine of St Mary Magdalene, and Sarah Lee of St Aldate (both Oxford).

St Mary Magadalen (usually spelled without the final 'e') happens to be the parish where John Pain's college, Balliol, is situated, so I had a look for some of the college records. The page relating to college members' records is at http://archives.balliol.ox.ac.uk/Past%20members/trace.asp

If you scroll down you'll find a reference to Clark's Lists, which are a transcript of various college records, and available online. In these you can find references to John Pain including his matriculation in 1685 and becoming a fellow of the college in 1691. He appears in 1699 but not 1700, from which I think can be inferred that he was a resident fellow of the college right through from 1691 until he moved to Somerset.

I believe at that time fellows might have been prohibited from marrying (certainly from living with a wife in college), but that some married surreptitiously and kept a wife away from the college. However, the Balliol archivist (email link at foot of page mentioned above) might know better. Note that in this case, the marriage came after the appointment to a fellowship (and ordination); if he had been known to have married first, he would probably not have gained the fellowship.

I do strongly suspect that the Woodstock marriage will be his, so you could probably look for children somewhere in the Oxford area between 1692 and 1699.

[Sloe Gin]

This shows the proximity of Balliol College to St Mary Mag!  They couldn't be any closer.

[goldie61]

Wow!
Looked to see if I could help, but you seem to have it sorted!
Great sleuthing everybody! 
Just wanted to say well done.
What a great bunch of people Rootschatters are. 

[BumbleB]

Just wondering, rebeccaclaire1986, whether you have any comments to make on our discoveries - I see you have been on-line since our posts    It's always good for the OP to come back