Genealogy Chat

I only have two relatives that were married by license and both were with consent of parents so have been wondering if it was a necessary requirement for minors to marry. Anyway I just found this which you might find useful.

Marriage Licence Bonds can be useful in finding a marriage of an ancestor if you do not know in which parish the marriage took place. This is because the bonds cover a whole archdeaconry or diocese, not a single parish. However, as the bonds are not usually indexed, a fairly lengthy search might be involved to find the bond for the marriage in which you are interested. Alternatively, you may have discovered from the marriage register that your ancestors were married by licence and wish to investigate further. Lord Hardwicke's Marriage Act of 1754 stated that all marriages had to take place either by banns or under a licence. Before this date some marriages took place without the calling of banns or issuing of a licence. A licence was usually obtained if: the parties lived in different church jurisdictions, if one of the parties was a minor (under 21 years old), the parties wanted to marry promptly (some licences were issued as late as the day of the marriage), the parties wanted to avoid the publicity of having banns read in church. A marriage licence bond contained three parts. The affidavit (or allegation), which was a sworn statement made by one of the parties, normally the bridegroom, stating there was no legal impediment to the marriage. The groom and bondsman entered into the bond agreeing that the bondsman would forfeit a sum of money if the marriage did not take place. The licence, was issued to the applicant to present to the vicar, whilst the official kept both the bond and affidavit. The actual licence almost never survives. The affidavits (or allegations) and bonds generally supply: the names and residences of the parties the bridegroom’s occupation details of the bondsmen (who were sometime relatives of the groom) the church at which the marriage was to take place occasionally an age (although most will just state 21 and upwards) occasionally (in the case of one of the parties being a minor) the name of a parent or guardian, whose consent had to be given. The bonds are kept in yearly bundles for each court. Sometimes there is a name index to the bundle. Bonds were filed in the year in which they were returned to the official; this was usually within two or three years of the date of the licence, occasionally as many as ten years after. No licences were granted during the Civil War and Commonwealth period (1642-61). Marriage licence bonds were issued by different courts depending on the residence of the two parties. However, rules were often broken, and licences were occasionally issued by a court higher or lower than necessary. If the parish in which the marriage took place is known, the appropriate Archdeaconry court and the Consistory court licence bonds can both be checked. If one of the courts has an index for the year in which the marriage took place, check this first.