Genealogy Chat

See below please

I have about twenty marriage certificates and where appropriate if the father was deceased at the time of marriage then it does say so. However I have one marriage certificate that says father name and occupation but I know he was dead because I have his death certificate too. My question is: was there any hard and fast rule concerning this info ie, was /is the question even asked or just volunteered? Hoping I haven't made a gross error and got the wrong marriage. Kat :(

The marriage certificate will only show what the priest/registrar was told by the couple. My grandfather remarried in 1960 at the age of 72. His father is shown as deceased, but not his bride's. Yet I know they were both dead. I have two sisters who married 3 months apart in 1869. To a James and an Alfred Worboys. Both grooms fathers named Thomas, occupation carpenter. Second certificate shows Thomas as deceased, yet there is no GRO index entry for a death in that period. That's a brick wall as if they were brothers it would fill a hole in my tree, but I know that James's father was alive in 1881. So until proved otherwise I have to presume that they had different fathers.

My grandparents marriage certificate in 1900 shows the bride's father and occupation with no mention of him being deceased in 1876.( I have death cert.) I would imagine it depends how a question was phrased. ie. 'Do you know your father's name and occupation?' would get a result but unless it was followed by 'But he died' I would imagine it went unrecorded. There doesn't seem to be a hard and fast rule although I suspect there was a recommended guidance for filling in the forms.

Just so you don't kill my thread Brian, the bride was 20 at the time so she would have needed parental permission wouldn't she (1856)?

Katarzyna When I got married in 1990 I volunteered the information that my father was dead. But I don't know if the registrar would have asked if I hadn't. Yes, in 1856 a person under 21 would have needed parental permission to marry, unless they had been previously married. nell

I wonder what the situation would have been if both parents were deceased and the bride (or groom) were under 21?

They would have lied about their age - fairly common from what I've seen on certificates.

Just to add I had Charlotte Screaton marrying in 1847 states father deceased but on her second marriage in 1872 it doesn't state that her father is deceased so I guess it all depends. Pippa

In reply to Janet: An underage couple could still get married if their parents were dead (apart from lying about their ages!) - They would have to go to court to get permission (can't remember what level of court - just a local magistrate, I think). As long as they could give sensible answers to questions put to them (about money, housing, employment and whether there was an urgent need for the marriage to take place - because of a baby!??) - they would normally be given permission. It was usually in the best interests of the community for as many people as possible to be married!! Merry

Thank you all for your interesting replies, perhaps I haven't made a mistake at all then, everything else fits so nicely, that bit just niggled me. Kat