A sunnier Gretna Green ?
postscript to my enquiry about boats carrying couples to the Channel islands
for 'quickie' marriages.
Hardwickes marriage Act of 1753 (which came into effect in 1754) made illegal
marriages in England and Wales (except for Jews & Quakers) other than in a
parish church by a clergyman, with banns having been read out etc and with
regulations as to the rcording of such.
The Act was actually entitled an act for better preventing of clandestine
marriages (26 George 2 c33) but, contrary to some modern writers, was not
designed to prevent the marriages of runaway heiresses to fortune seekers,
but (inter alia) mostly against marriages at the Fleet prison in London. Some
300 000 are recorded there between 1700 and 1750 and there were other
similarly notorious places eg Sandon, Essex.
The word 'clandestine' has been misapplied to many unions that were performed
for many different reasons, of which secrecy was infrequently a part.
Analysis of Fleet marriages for partners from Reigate (surrey) shows that the
major reason was 'big belly' when the putative father/husband did not have a
legal right of settlement in the parish. Such marriages were obviously
carried out under pressure from parish officials to prevent illegitimate
births. In one exceptional case the marriage was performed after the birth
but before the baptism of the child. Such offspring would otherwise have
become the responsibility of the parish of residence of the mother.
Enquiries to the record office in Jersey and responses from geneaologists
there have provided no evidence that any couples from the mainland were
married in Jersey or Guernsey in such circumstances.
The statements of W. E. Tate, 'The parish chest' (1951), p. 64, can not
therefore be substantiated.
Recommended reading; Clandestine marriage in England, 1500-1850 - Outhwaite,
R. B.: Hambledon Press - 1995
Jeremy Greenwood
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