Married 13 years after first child?

[Frenchy]

Hi all,

I’m intrigued to know why my ancestors Richard Stinton (born 1801 in Shadwell) and Maria Bines (born c1811 in Bow) married in St. Dunstan in Stepney, 13 years after their first known child was born in 1830. Their son William was the first to appear in civil registration, born in 1839 - four years before their marriage.

I had thought that Richard was previously married to Maria Wilcox in 1826 at the same church. However, this was another Richard born c1791 in Worcestershire and can be found in the 1841 and 1851 censuses in St. George Hanover Square and 1861 in Fordingbridge, Hampshire.

Please let me know your thoughts and theories.

Kind regards,
Chris

[avm228]

Are they recorded as bachelor and spinster?

[Frenchy]

Are they recorded as bachelor and spinster?

Sorry, I probably should have mentioned this - yes, their marriage records them as bachelor and spinster.

[Jed59]

FWIW , when a local church (long gone ) opened in 1840, the new vicar was so horrified at the number of unmarried couples living together, he offered to marry them for nothing if they turned up on a particular day. AppRently there were about 20 couples took him up on the offer!  These days the queue would be round the block.LOL.   I don’t know if this was the case here but perhaps when times were hard, it wasn’t seen as a priority?maybe they just didn’t get round to it?  Just a thought!

[Old Bristolian]

I have a couple who 'linked up' c1848/9 and had three children and moved from London to Somerset before returning to marry in London in 1855. They were still living in Somerset at the time and continued there. They had however, had the banns read in London on two previous occasions - I've no idea why they didn't marry earlier,

Steve

[BumbleB]

Could it be that one of the couple had to look after a parent, and was only free to marry when that parent died?

My example:  I have 4 children born to a "spinster" 1822 - 1830.  She finally married in 1831, and subsequently had 2 more children before dying in 1834.  When her husband died, he left a will, in which he named all 6 of his children "both natural and legitimate".  I then looked at his records, and found that the marriage, by Licence, took place a month after the burial of a lady who was possibly his widowed mother.

[Lisajb]

It’s probably more common than you would think. I have a couple in my tree who married when they were in their 50’s after having about 7 children.

[Frenchy]

It's very possible that they simply didn't marry until then.

Could it also have been possible that their first marriage to each other wasn't recognised by law? Up until the Marriage Act of 1836, to be legally binding, non-conformists were required to be married in Anglican churches rather than in their own places of worship.