Woodward Family Tree 1700-2006 England

WOODWARD FAMILY TREE



		Contents Home page What's new Family members Family tree Origin of the name Related families Places they lived A guide to baptisms A guide to marriages A guide to burials A guide to the calendar

A Guide to Marriages

Parish records of baptisms, marriages and burials started in 1538 under a command from Henry VIII, but only about 800 registers have survived from this date. At first formal marriage records didn't exist, and only single sheets of paper were used. From 1598 books were introduced under an Order made by Queen Elizabeth I.

Only the paper entries from 1558 onwards (the start of Elizabeth's reign) were copied into the new books, which means that in many parishes the records for the period 1538 to 1558 have been lost.

The clergy also had to send a copy of the parish record to the Bishop every year. This copy is known as 'the Bishop's Transcript'

Church weddings 1538-1753

In the 1500s and 1600s most couples married in the bride's parish. During this period 30% of all marriages were by licence and 30% were remarriages following the death of the first partner. However, 25% of people who survived beyond the age of 40 did not marry (the average life expectancy in the 1700s was 37.1 years).

In the 1600s mobility was common. Large numbers of people did not marry where they were born and almost half of the population did not die where they were born. Most farm labourers or servants were employed for a year and often moved to another parish each spring. Movement was usually contained within a twenty mile radius or less. Bridegrooms were often shown in the records as being a 'Sojourner' - i.e. a traveler who only stayed for a short time. In the 1700s many couples married in the nearest large town. Only a minority of couples married in the same parish as the one in which they were baptised.

Some marriages went unrecorded as a result of negligence on the part of the vicar. Many clergy noted the event on scraps of paper and transcribed the information into the record book often days or weeks later. Mistakes were therefore common.

During the 1700s most marriages took place within 15 miles of the home of the couple. (By the 1850s the average was 30 miles.) Average age at marriage in the late 1700s was 28 for men and 26 for women. (By 1871 it was 30 for professional men but 24 for manual workers, and by 2006 it was 36.2 years for men and 33.6 years for women).

Throughout the last 350 years, women have been on average 2 years younger than their husbands and in the first half of the 1800s almost one-third of all brides were pregnant at the time of their marriage. Before 1754 brides often signed with their maiden name even when it was their second marriage.

The Civil War period

Between 1646 and 1660 Bishops were abolished, and in 1653 the right to perform marriages was removed from the clergy. During this period, Justices of the Peace were the only people licensed to perform marriages and couples often had to search for a parish in which a JP was available, which may have been some distance away.

It is estimated that between 1640 and 1650 over a third of all marriages were not registered. Bishops were reintroduced in 1660.

Calendar change in 1752

A new calendar was introduced in 1752, and New Years Day in England moved from 25 March to the 1 January. This means, for example, that December 1750 was followed immediately in the parish records by January 1750. Because of this change, weddings can often seem to be after the baptism of the first child.

For example - if a couple married in May 1750, and their first child was born 9 months later, the baptism would be recorded as being in February 1750 (what we would now refer to as February 1751). On face value this would suggest that the couple could not be the parents of the child, when in fact they could. This phenomena is not so much of a problem if you are looking at a copy of the actual record of events in the Parish Record as they were normally listed in the order they occurred, but it can be a problem when the events are shown in a tabulated list taken from the records and sorted by date, such as with the International Genealogical Index (IGI).

The change to the new calendar also meant that 11 days were omitted from the calendar resulting in the 2nd September 1752 being followed immediately by the 14 September for that year alone. Consequently, there are no parish records for the period 3 September to 13 September 1752 (inclusive). (To find out more about how the calendar evolved see Calendar.htm)

Hardwick's Marriage Act 1753

Hardwick's Marriage Act applied only to England & Wales and came into force in 1754. Scotland and the Channel Islands were exempt from the legislation.

Under the terms of the Act, a separate book had to be kept for recording marriages. All marriages had to be concluded during the hours of daylight, so as to be "an open ceremony"

Before the Act the marriage records did not show the bride and groom's address, age, parents' names or details of any witnesses. A typical marriage entry in the parish records before 1754 is as follows:

Typical pre 1754 record of a marriage ceremony

Entries in the new marriage book introduced by Hardwick's Act show the date of the event, the names of the bride and groom, their married status (bachelor, spinster, widow or widower etc), whether the ceremony was by banns or licence, the name of the vicar or curate, the signature or mark of the couple and the names of the two witnesses. In the mid 19th century, 31% of men and 45% of women signed with a mark rather than a signature. A typical example (from 1789) is shown below.

Marriage record from 1789

Under Hardwick's Act, Banns were made compulsory. Licences were only valid for a specific church. Marriage by licence of a minor without parental consent was null and void, although it still happened. From 1823 onwards Banns had to be read in both the bride and groom's parish where they were different. Addresses of residence in the marriage entry are rare before the early 1800s, and where shown can be misleading. Often one address for both parties was given so as to avoid the need to pay for two lots of Banns - i.e. one in the groom's parish, and one in the bride's.

The Act also declared that only marriages held at approved places (i.e. Anglican, Jewish or Quaker churches) were legal. This was a big change as previously couples who made a vow before witnesses, who lived together and who had children were recognised by the church and law as being 'married'.

Typical village church with a square tower

From 1754, all children born to couples married at non-approved places (such as 'marriage shops' or non-conformist chapels), were declared as 'base'. They were unable to inherit from their parents whose property reverted to the crown after their death. The Act declared this provision as retrospective.

In order to legalise their marriage, some couples married again in an Anglican church, having first married in a non-conformist chapel. Marriages by other denominations, (i.e. Roman Catholic and Non-Conformist) weren't legalised until the 1830s.

The Act fixed the lower legal age of marriage as 14 for men and 12 for women. This was raised to 16 for both sexes in 1929, although parental consent was still required for brides or bridegrooms under age 21. In 1969, the minimum age for marriage without parental consent was lowered to 18 years of age.

As Hardwick's Act did not apply to Scotland, marriages in Gretna Green, the nearest Scottish town from the English border, were a regular occurrence for people under the age of 21, until 1939 when Scottish law was changed to mirror English law.

Civil Registration from 1837.

Civil registration was introduced in England and Wales in 1837. Instead of being married in church couples could be married by a Registrar (at the Registrar's office). Civil registration bought changes to the marriage certificate by the inclusion of the bride and groom's age, occupation, place of residence, and the name and occupation of their fathers. A typical marriage entry after 1837 is as follows:

Marriage certificate from 1844

In 1841, only 2% of marriages were by civil registration. By 1970 the figure had risen to 70%. By 1990 church weddings were back in fashion and half of all marriages took place in church.

Change of surname on marriage

Since marriage records began in 1538 it has been the custom in England for women to change their surname on marriage from their birth name to that of their husband. This was probably the case before the records began, although in the middle ages some men who married into high status families changed their name to that of their wife in order to perpetuate the 'family line'.

The law in England does not require a woman to change her name on marriage; it's just tradition. It may even go back to the old view that a wife belonged to her husband. During the 1980s and 1990s, with the popularity of the feminist movement, many women bucked this trend and retained their birth name, particularly where they were famous. However, by the year 2000 the trend turned back and approximately 90 percent of English women were again changing their name after their marriage. Where they did keep their own name they usually gave their husband's surname to their children.

The increase in the divorce rate over the last 30 years or so has seen a large number of women revert to their birth or maiden name after legal separation from their husband, and this could prove a nightmare for family history researchers in the future. Hopefully, in the future records will be more readily available and this won't be a problem.