Fleet Street Prison Chapel

[liz hutchison]

Just wondering if any one can throw some light on this marriage
James Mattocks married Jane Crabball on 15th October 1738.
This couple were married at the Fleet Street Chapel, Fleet Street Prison
would that mean that either could of been in prison or it was just a place
people used to get married, Liz

[AntonyM]

Liz

No, it doesn't mean they were in prison (although I suppose there is a very slim chance they could have been) ....

have a read about Fleet Marriages , basically they were marriages conducted in the locality of the Fleet Prison usually to get around the requirements for banns or licences that applied elsewhere. For legal reasons, clergy operating in/around the prison were able to ignore the rules and a very large number of people got married in this way (for all sorts of reasons). There are lots of books on the subject and lists of the marriages that took place.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fleet_Marriage

[Richard]

Hello Liz

As Antony's link says after 1711 few of these marriages took place in the actual prison, and most were conducted in surrounding taverns and public houses in the 'Fleet Liberty'

Your Couple were married by Minister Walter Wyatt, who operated there from 1713 until his death in 1750. 'The History of the Fleet Marriages' By John Southerden Burn has some information on him. He made a fairly good living from this and on one of his register books is written 'Mr.Wyatt, Minister of the Fleet, is removed from the Two Sawyers, the corner of Fleet Lane, to the Hand and Pen near Holborn Bridge, where marriages are solemnized without imposition". A date is not given for this, but shows he was operating out of taverns.