"Residing in parish" vs. "Of this parish"

[jeremy67]

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.

[Rosinish]

It looks as though "residing in this parish" means he wasn't born there, why make the difference otherwise?

Annie

[IgorStrav]

I would agree with Rosinish, especially as the bride is shown as the more common 'of this parish'.

If both participants were shown as 'residing in this parish' you might have an excuse to think the registrant hadn't meant it to mean something different.

Sadly that doesn't take you much further into where the groom was actually born......

[Rosinish]

"I don't know why the groom is not described as "of the parish of X", which I've seen many times"

The above would probably mean the groom was still living at home (at least in his home parish) when he married but in this case he was already living in the parish where he married & possibly had been for a time?

Annie

[Gadget]

I agree with Annie and Igor but also wondering if it was to do with the Settlement/Poor Law Acts. I don't have my ref books handy at the moment but it might be that it was written like that so that the groom would not have a claim on the parish if he fell upon hard times. The clerk/vicar was being cautious.

[jeremy67]

Thanks for your answers everyone. They pretty much confirm what I thought - the groom was not originally from the parish he married in (and settled in afterwards, by the way).

[KGarrad]

Could "resident of this parish" be somewhat similar to the term "Sojourner"?
With just a difference in degree of connection to the parish?

And, of course, "of this parish" does not imply that the person was born there!
A common misconception!

[jeremy67]

Could "resident of this parish" be somewhat similar to the term "Sojourner"?
With just a difference in degree of connection to the parish?

And, of course, "of this parish" does not imply that the person was born there!
A common misconception!

Yes, I considered the soujourner angle, but am not sure about this. The surname in question is not common but is found in abundance in a small cluster of neighbouring villages, so I think if the groom was not actually from the parish of the marriage, it's highly likely he was born in one of the other villages and moved to that parish specifically to marry. After the marriage he spent the rest of his life in that parish, so wasn't moving around regularly.