Hi,
I wonder if anyone can guide me on this, please.
I have a marriage record from a parish register of 1789 where the bride is "of this parish" but the groom is "residing in this parish". Now, I know that OTP can mean they have only been living there long enough for the banns to be read, though I have no reason not to believe that the bride was born and brought up in that parish.
The groom's situation interests me. "Residing in the parish" makes me feel like he was definitely not from there originally. Given that OTP can be somewhat flexible, I'm puzzled why the vicar took the trouble to spell out the difference between the two spouses' status. I'm aware of the argument about being careful to flag "aliens" so the parish doesn't get stung for poor relief later on, but in that case I don't know why the groom is not described as "of the parish of X", which I've seen many times.
Why this is important to me is because this chap is the furthest back I have got in this line, so I can't be sure of a baptism for him, and therefore who his parents were, until I sort out where he was from (or not from). There is a baptism that fits within the parish in question, but also one in the parish next door and doubtless many more from parishes further afield!
So, does "residing in this parish" mean with any degree of certainty that he was from that parish (baptised there), or not from that parish?
Any thoughts or help would be most gratefully received.
Thank you.