Married CofE baptized Catholic

[rubymelia]

Any reason why my 2nd great grandparents would be married at a Church of England Church (St Peter's Church, Liverpool) and then 11 months later baptise their son into a Catholic church (St Francis Xavier, Liverpool)?

I do not have records of whether the parents followed CofE or Catholicism

[Craclyn]

My guess would be that one of the couple was C of E and the other Catholic. Trying to find some sort of compromise.

[Joney]

The answer depends on the year. If a couple were married in a Catholic church in the nineteenth century, they had to pay extra for the registrar to attend. Without the registrar, it wasn't a legal marriage.  If they married in a C of E church however, the C of E  clergyman was considered to be a responsible person who could ask the necessary questions and ensure the legal paperwork was correct. No registrar was required so there was no need to pay for his attendance. Money saved - always useful if you're just setting up house together.

A Catholic baptism suggests at least one of the parents was Catholic, but it is possible that both were and they were just saving money. Have you seen an image of the register ? I have seen entries with 'Father protestant' noted in the margin  of Catholic registers. I would also suggest a search for Catholic baptisms of both of the parents. (Some of the Liverpool Catholic baptisms on Ancestry are on the films, but are not indexed. You can find them by using the 'Browse' function if you select the most likely parish, ie. the one in the immediate area of where the family is living and select the year suggested by looking at the age on the census.)

[lancaster.jim]

As Joney says - “The answer depends on the year.”  From 1754, Hardwicke's Act required that all marriages were solemnised in a licensed church of the Established Religion (i.e. CoE) before an authorised minister – usually the Rector.  The only exceptions were for members of the Jewish and Quaker communities.  In 1837 the civil registration of marriages was introduced that accommodated the needs of those of other religious groups and those of none.  The non-Anglicans could be married in their own chapel, if licensed and in the presence of the Registrar, or the marriage could be solemnised in the Registrar's office.  From 1898, Authorised Persons could be appointed to non-Anglican chapels to act for the Registrar.  This facility was taken up by many of the Free Church communities but not by many Catholic churches until after about 1970.

Even after 1837, some Catholics continued to use the Parish Church for the solemnisation of their marriage, even when there was a local Catholic chapel.  From the point of view of Catholic Church law, marriages in England that took place according to the civil law in the 1800s were accepted as valid marriages.  This changed in 1908 when the Church issued the decree 'Ne Temere' that set out more clearly the rules for Catholic marriages worldwide.  I remember from my childhood, talk of people 'having their marriage put right'.  This often required a Catholic marriage ceremony in church.  This did not need the presence of the Registrar as the couple already had a valid civil marriage, but the marriage is recorded in the Catholic marriage register, often with the note 'Ne Temere'.

The above may explain why a couple married in an Anglican church and had their children baptised in a Catholic church.  As a rule of thumb, I think that the place of baptism shows the religious adherence of the family.  BUT one set of my great grandparents had a mixed marriage ca 1880, one being Catholic and one Protestant and they brought up their sons as Protestants and their daughters as Catholics!

[Blue70]

Lots of Liverpool catholics chose to be married at St Peter's CE or St Nicholas CE in the 19th century then baptised their children as RC.


Blue

[garstonite]

Lots of Liverpool catholics chose to be married at St Peter's CE or St Nicholas CE in the 19th century then baptised their children as RC.


Blue

very true - people even came from over the Mersey from The Wirral - I believe it was also a status symbol - nice big fancy Church in Liverpool City Centre - Grand Occasion