Genealogy Chat

My goodness. Thanks Nell :)

From the excellent http://home.clara*net/dixons/Certificates/indexbd.htm which will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about certificates: '(1) 'by certificate' which would be found on a marriage entry in a register office marriage register or in a non-conformist marriage register. It shows that the couple waited 3 weeks between giving notice and getting married. (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. (3) 'after banns' which can only be found in a Church of England marriage. It is the equivalent of the certificate for the register office/non-conformist churches. (4) 'by common licence' which can only be found in a Church of England marriage. The licence has been issued by the Bishop for the diocese and I believe is the equivalent of the licence in a register office or non-conformist church. (5) 'by special licence' which can only be found in a Church of England marriage. The licence has been issued by the Archbishop not the Bishop. (6) 'by Registrar Generals' which could be found on any marriage certificate except for one where the marriage was by the rites of the Church of England. It is issued when one of the couple is dying and it allows a marriage ceremony to take place at any location at any time of the day or night. (7) 'By superintendent registrars certificate' is a very rare finding. It is issued for a Church of England marriage but instead of banns being called in the church, notice of marriage has been given to the superintendent registrar. In the early days this would be necessary where services were held so infrequently e.g. in a small chapel,that it was not possible to call the banns on three succesive Sundays and get married all within the three months time limit. Later on it was sometimes used as an expedient if for some reason the vicar did not want to make the forthcoming marriage in the church public knowledge and have the entry in his banns book which anyone can look at. The sort of problem might be where a bride and groom were of different persuasions and the vicar either didn't want the congregtion in general to know or even the bride/grooms family if he thought they might try to disrupt the ceremony. It is sometimes used these days when one of the couple is divorced and the vicar does not want it generally known that he is marrying a divorcee in his church. nell

I thought it might be something like that. Thanks Sarah :)

Most reg office weddings are by registrars certifcate. However the cert could also be used to allow a church wedding too - often in a non-conformist church, esp those where a registrar had to be present because the particular church was not allowed to conduct it's own ceremony. It's really an alternative to banns or a licence for a church wedding. The registrar grants the cert when they are happy the couple are legally entitled to marry. Sarah

I have this on a marriage cert from 1918. They were married in a register office. Is this an alternate for saying by banns, or was there something significant about the certificate? If so, how would I find out what?