CARMARTHENSHIRE-L Archives

From: <>
Subject: Banns of marriage
Date: Mon, 1 Feb 1999 07:28:12 EST

Banns of Marriage
A proclomation of intended marriage, repeated three times at weekly intervals
in the parish churches of the bride and bridegroom, was order by the Lateran
Council in 1215. To dispense with banns required the obtaining of a marriage
licence.
In 1653 under Cromwell's Protectorate, marriage was made a civil contract
performed by a Justice of the Peace, and banns had to be published either on
three consecutive Sundays after ' the morning exercise' or on three market
days in three consecutive weeks in the market place. The banns were then
recorded, sometimes in a separate book and sometimes in the marriage register,
either as a full entry or by adding the letter M (for Market) after the
marriage entry. At the Restoration of the monarchy, marriage once more became
a sacrament of the Church.
On 25 March 1754, Lord Hardwicks Marriage Act brought banns registers into
regular keeping, sometimes in separate books and sometimes in the parish
marriage registers. Separate banns books tended to be discarded after they
were filled, so only a comparatively small number survive today. The
requirement to register banns continued until 1812.
Banns registers may still be found in a few church vestries, but where
marriage registers have been deposited at the county record office any
surviving banns books have usually gone with them. They offer a substitute
for a missing marriage register and provide a cross-reference from the parish
of one party to that of the other. Where corresponding marriage entry still
exists, the banns entry may supply additional information. However a banns
record by itself is no guarantee that a marriage actually took place.

Pauline James
Carmarthenshire FHS

This thread:

• Banns of marriage by <>