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Marriage records 1649-1660

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  • Marriage records 1649-1660

    Hi

    Should I ever be lucky enough to trace any of my peeps back to the time of the Commonwealth of England, where would any marriage records be found, please? Was watching something on TV the other night on the Yesterday Channel and it said something to the effect that .... "marriages were taken away from the church and could be administered by a Justice of the Peace" .... or something.

    So, for us family history wallahs, would that info be findable anywhere?

    STG
    Always looking for Goodwins in Berkshire.

  • #2
    Very few Commonwealth records still exist because they were destroyed by the church, lol.

    however, you MAY find some records which were carefully (or maybe not so carefully) recreated by vicars, either at the time, or later by report. Many people who had civil marriages also had a secret religious marriage.

    OC

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    • #3
      I am transcribing parish registers for a parish in Cornwall, and some Commonwealth records still do exist.
      However, I get the impression that the vicar recorded the "important" ones and not all of them. There are certainly fewer baptisms, marriages and burials recorded.

      You just have to look for each event separately. Is there a particular marriage you are looking for?
      Elizabeth
      Research Interests:
      England:Purkis, Stilwell, Quintrell, White (Surrey - Guildford), Jeffcoat, Bond, Alexander, Lamb, Newton (Lincolnshire, Stalybridge, London)
      Scotland:Richardson (Banffshire), Wishart (Kincardineshire), Johnston (Kincardineshire)

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      • #4
        Originally posted by Elizabeth Herts View Post
        Is there a particular marriage you are looking for?
        I'm nowhere near back to 1660, unfortunately! :( I was just curious as to what I might find if ever I did make it that far back.

        Thanks Elizabeth and OC for the info.

        STG
        Always looking for Goodwins in Berkshire.

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        • #5
          The answer (as well as those above) is merely, "You might be lucky". It is a lot less likely that the records will exist but its worth looking to see if your particular ones do. Same with 'births' and burials (baptisms were not supposed to be recorded). I too get the impression in some parish records that the recorder only did the important people of the parish but each parish varies from the next.

          Anne

          Anne

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          • #6
            The records for Commonwealth Marriages may be few in number but I do possess one which was initially found on an LDS CD but as I thought it was a mistaken entry I went looking for the original entry at Huntingdon CRO and found the record in their very ancient 16 century register book. The marriage was registered in 1655 but was worded to include the words 3 market days at the nearby market rather than banns being called in church. I was not allowed to copy it from the bok but the archivist did a beautiful photograph of the entry and sent it to me. I feel very privileged to have this copy of such a unique record so happy hunting.

            Janet

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            • #7
              Janet, what a gem.

              Not so long ago you could go into the RO at Huntingdon and they would produce the original registers for you. Understandably, they no longer do this.
              I have many ancient entries for my OH's family from Huntingdon, right back to the late 1500s.
              Elizabeth
              Research Interests:
              England:Purkis, Stilwell, Quintrell, White (Surrey - Guildford), Jeffcoat, Bond, Alexander, Lamb, Newton (Lincolnshire, Stalybridge, London)
              Scotland:Richardson (Banffshire), Wishart (Kincardineshire), Johnston (Kincardineshire)

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              • #8
                Yes, I did that too, at Huntingdon. It is a very satisfying experience to handle to original documents. I have been in several archives where this is freely offered if you cannot read the fiche or film but obviously its better that we use the copied record when we can.
                Anne

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                • #9
                  Yes I do agree that Hunts CRO is a gem of a place for research. Most of mine are from Northants but so many of them had this habit of hopping over the county border for marriages only to return to the Northants village later on, frustrating at times but this Commonwealth Marriage that I have was a missing marriage from Northants of my great by 8 grandparents and I found others in the same Huntingdon Village so it was a scoop as far as I was concerned. The LDS entry was correct though the spelling of the place was incorrect which had us al scratching our heads, including the archivist, which was why I was allowed to see the original book, but the spelling was there in the book in its incorrect form!!

                  Janet
                  Last edited by Janet; 27-07-14, 23:00.

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