Marriage by license

[Lynn The Forest Fan]

Can anyone tell me if it is possible to get more information on a marriage license, from 1908? I've just got my gg grandparents' marriage cert and it is the first that I have seen, where they married by license. I understand that this probably had something to do with them marrying in Hull when they actually lived in Barton upon Humber, (although he gave an address in Hull), but was curious to see if there would be any further information.

[Uncle John]

What church did they marry in, or was it a Register Office wedding? They could only have Banns read in a CofE church, so any other wedding venue would have required a licence.

[Merry Monty Montgomery]

I have my grandparents original marriage licence (1917)......so it's not at the RO!! (unless they signed more than one copy, I suppose.....)

[KiteRunner]

From what I've read, not many actual licences are held in the record office, because the couple would keep the licence. I think the record office or whatever is more likely to have the application for the licence, but I'm not sure where you would look.

[Lynn The Forest Fan]

They married at St Stephen's church in Hull, which is C of E, their children were baptised in a C of E church in Barton. But they were already grandparents when they married, hence the reason for marrying accross the water!

[Christine in Herts]

The whole point of marriage by Licence is that it gets round the time & publicity demands of a marriage by Banns, so it's extremely unlikely there will be any Banns records.

I should have thought there would be some kind of Licence register. There certainly are for historical records. The trick would be to find out where they would be. The RO may be able to offer some ideas.

Christine

[Lynn The Forest Fan]

Thanks Christine, it would make sense that they wanted to avoid a fuss, as they had been living as a maaried couple for over 40 years. I doubt event heir children knew that they weren't married.

[Little Nell]

Marriage Certificate Tutorials
says
"(2) "by licence" which would be found in the same set of registers and would indicate that the couple may have married with less than three weeks between giving the notice and getting married (minimum of 1 clear working day). However - a licence lasts three months so the marriage wasn't necessarily done in a rush. It may have been easier to give only the one licence notice rather than the two that would have been needed for a marriage by certificate if the bride and groom lived in different districts."

I'm not sure that there would be any information on the licence that you wouldn't have on the marriage certificate.

[Lynn The Forest Fan]

Thanks Nell, that is interesting. I have emailed the RO & will see what they have to say.

[Phoenix]

The christmas edition of the Hampshire genealogical Society's journal said that from 1837, licences were issued by the registrar, rather than the church. Not sure if that is true for all marriages, or just those outside the c of e.

You might find details differed very slightly from the actual certificate. The only difference, I suppose would be if someone had to stand surety for them: you would presumably get an address and possibly occupation for them.

As a matter of interest, were the witnesses friends and family, or strangers off the street?