Married by special license

Afterwards, having no further value, it was held for a while among the church records and then destroyed. Today it is sometimes given to the married couple.

Prior to the entry in the marriage registers may be marked "by Lic. From the entry always says whether the marriage followed banns or license. Because of its general authority one occasionally finds that a license has been accepted in a place not specified in the document.

Many licenses were issued by local clergymen acting as surrogates and before many of the marriages they authorised took place in their own churches and not in the churches specified. Elsewhere, the license was frequently applied for on the day before the marriage, but in these cases it is often found to have been issued on the same day. The license was valid for three calendar months.

Sometimes, of course, although a license was obtained, no marriage took place and a later license may then perhaps be found allowing marriage to another party. The license itself is not, of course, evidence that a marriage actually took place. If the parties came from different dioceses in the same province they could obtain a "Common" License from the vicar general of the archbishop of that province, Canterbury or York.

Perhaps because of the convenience or prestige involved, many couples who did not live in different dioceses obtained their licenses from the Vicars General. Their indexes should on no account be overlooked. The licenses issued by the Archbishop of Canterbury are particularly important in this respect and enable many marriages in the London area to be located easily.

The entries are included in Boyd's Marriage Index to Indexes of names have been compiled by the Society of Genealogists from to and are published on microfiche and in hard copy form [ FHL 9 vols. The bonds for these licenses , also at Lambeth Palace Library, will usually provide the occupation of the groom if this does not appear in the allegation [not filmed by FHL ].

Many earlier licenses used to exist and extracts of these for the period , made by the 19th century antiquary, William Paver, were printed by the Yorkshire Archaeological Society [see the FHL Title Catalog under "Paver's Marriage Licenses"]. These are indexed in Boyd's Marriage Index for Yorkshire, the word "Paver" appearing instead of the name of the parish, causing many mystified genealogists to reach for a gazetteer!

If one party to a marriage lived in the Province of York and the other in that of Canterbury then a license to marry could legitimately be obtained only from the Master of Faculties of the Archbishop of Canterbury. Prior to they survive only for the years and The full details from the allegations for these early years were printed by the Harleian Society in its Visitation Series, volume 24 [ FHL 54h v.

Readers should note that the title page of the volume says that it includes records to , but the later entries are only a tiny proportion of those that survive. No licenses were issued between and The allegations and calendars have been filmed by the Family History Library [ FHL reels, etc.

Indexes of names have been compiled by the Society of Genealogists and published on microfiche [ FHL has on fiche and on fiche ]. These indexes are also available on a pay-per-view basis on the EnglishOrigins website mentioned above. The imminent birth of the child was clearly a reason for your ancestors to chose to marry by licence because as well as ensuring the child was born in wedlock it gave them more privacy than having banns read would — but so far as the application was concerned the reason for asking was irrelevant.

I see you just answered a question the other day so you are still monitoring this post — my lucky day! Do you know if there was a waiting period between when the license was purchased and when it could be used? Also, do you think a rector could provide his own license for marriage? Seems like that would be questionable. Would he have to go to the bishop or could he get his curate to sign it? I am an author trying to marry some characters relatively quickly, one of whom is a rector!

Thank you so much! Drat, just replied and it vanished into the ether! Provided they could convince the officiating clergyman of that, then they could get married the moment they pitched up with the licence within the stated hours — see the original post.

A clergyman absolutely could not produce the licence himself, whether for his own marriage or when he was the officiating priest. It has to be an archbishop or bishop. Hope that helps.

Louise, thank you so much! This is very helpful. One more question, if I may — who would the couple see at the Inns of Court to obtain the license? Would both parties need to be present or could the groom show up and provide the names and pay for the license? Thank you again! I would assume he was an employeee of the bishop, trained in law who could check due process and authorise the licence himself on behalf of the bishop.

Ordinary licences were no big deal — a lot of my perfectly ordinary ancestors used them. It was not necessary for both of the couple to apply in person, or even for the licence to be issued personally to one of them. Phew, thanks! I should have come to you first!

Did a common licence ever expire if it remained unused? You are commenting using your WordPress. You are commenting using your Google account. You are commenting using your Twitter account. You are commenting using your Facebook account.

Notify me of new comments via email. Notify me of new posts via email. Jane Austen's London. Skip to content. Bridal Dress. She might hear you. He chuckled. We needle each other as frequently as possible. I say worse things to her face. I enjoy watching her squirm and plot a counter- attack. That reminded her of the playful banter she shared with her cousin Robert. His smile turned self-deprecating. Skip to content. Marriage in Regency England—Special License. April 22, May 8, Donna Hatch. Donna Hatch.

Author of Historical Romance and Fantasy, award-winning author Donna Hatch is a sought-after speaker and workshop presenter. Her writing awards include the Golden Rose and the prestigious Golden Quill.

Her passion for writing began at age 8 she wrote her first short story, and she wrote her first full-length novel during her sophomore year in high school, a fantasy which was later published. In between caring for six children, 7 counting her husband , her day job, her work as a freelance editor and copywriter, and her many volunteer positions, she still makes time to write. After all, writing IS an obsession.

All of her heroes are patterned after her husband of over 20 years, who continues to prove that there really is a happily ever after. Intertwining Fantasy and History. Servants in Regency England. Christmas stories to help get you into the holiday spirit December 15, December 27, Donna Hatch. Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. I don't think there were any wars in , at least not in the UK The usual reasons seem to have been an underage person, marrying out of the residential area, wanting to get married without the usual 3 weeks of Banns being called.

The latter could have been for any of a number of reasons, including maybe one spouse having to leave the country. My grandmother, on the beach, South Bay, Scarborough, undated photo poss. If it was pregnancy you should be able to search for children. Last edited by cbcarolyn ; , I have a couple married in in NSW under marriage act 15 of , which appears to have been created to legitimize some previously defacto type arrangements and possiby the status of children from these circumstances Brian.

J O'Flynn M. J Campbell from County Clare plus others as they pop up. People were in the armed forces so for example somebody in the Navy might have been posed anywhere so might want to marry by special icence before rejoining a ship. I know a couple who married by special licence out of area to avoid a disgruntled ex turning up! Thank you for all your suggestions. No children registered within a period of time which could suggest having to legitimize things, of course the baby could have miscarried.

Not in the armed forces. They both give the same address so could be attempting to make things look presentable. The marriage area is the same as their home address.