Marriage/banns

[trish1]

I have - from a descendant - a very poor copy of the following -

Abernethy December 4th
These certify that the purpose of marriage between Peter Boyd and Jane Fair of this parish was thrice times .... in the Parish Church in the audience of the congregation and no objections offered thereto
Matthew Moncrieff Shepherd Session Clerk

Couple of questions - from an 1855 birth certificate this couple married in Auchtermuchty (Fife) rather than Abernethy (Perth) in 1848

I can't find an OPR for the marriage on SP in either

The sessions clerk on the document was also the civil registrar in 1855 - Could he have written the banns document later? Could it be recorded in the Session books rather than the parish register? The handwriting on the 1855 birth is different to the handwriting on the banns document??

Any suggestions as to why I can't find the banns or where the document may have originated

Trish

[Montrose Budie]

Probably thrice times proclaimed in the Parish or thrice times procl^d.

mb

[Currie]

Hello Trish,

According to ‘Detailed List of the Old Parochial Registers” etc., 1872, Abernethy doesn’t have any pre 1855 OPR marriage records after March 1794, except for one entry for 1823. Perhaps they handed the paperwork to the participants rather than recording it all in a book.

If this is the same fellow then Matthew Moncrieff Shepherd was also the parish schoolmaster in Abernethy, seems to have been a busy man. http://www.eaterclunie.co.uk/Graveyard/ ... ?index=132

There’s a parish called Abernethy and Kincardine in Inverness.

All the best,
Alan

[trish1]

Hi Alan

I hadn't thought about a document being given to the participant - I also wondered if what I have is a copy of a register entry - the register having been lost at a later date. I believe it is definitely the Perth Abernethy - the groom's family moved there c. 1833 and prior to 1850s the family didn't move far from their origins in Fife. (After 1850 they spread around the globe). Sure seems to be the same Mr Shepherd you have found - - the Vicar's right hand man in the parish.

Checking the wording with the added suggestions it seems to be "three times pro-claimed" (not sure why I read the three as thrice)

It now occurs to me they may have married in Auchtermuchty - with the banns called in Abernethy where they were living - the bride's family came from the Auchtermuchty area in Fife - perhaps she went home to be married.

Trish

[trish1]

Alan

Your link to the Abernethy graveyard appears to have supplied me with the source of the names of 2 of the siblings of Peter Boyd. Two boys born in Abernethy were named Hendry and John (the standard family names having been used for earlier children in the family).

Having some difficulty searching the link you provided for other names I looked at the burials for Cluniefield (where my folks worked as bleachers) and discovered the burial of a John Hendry aged 63 in 1876. Checking the 1861 census he was a bleacher employing 12 men, 11 women and 3 boys - some of which were no doubt my family members. 1841 finds him listed on the page next to my Boyd family.

So many thanks for answering an unasked question

Trish

[Montrose Budie]

Standard practice was for the banns to be proclaimed in both parishes, i.e. Auchtermuchty - and Abernethy.

mb

[trish1]

Regardless of the practice of calling banns in both parishes - there are no OPRs of the marriage or banns from either parish - so I wonder why the family had a copy of such a document. I was thinking they may have been given same to take to the other parish to prove that the banns had been called - but given it was all about 160 years ago - I shall probably never know.

One of my English gg grandparents arrived in Australia with a certified copy of her baptism from the parish register - dated a few weeks before they left England. There is a 1d tax stamp attached to the document. So even if these parish registers were lost - she still had her own record.

Trish

[Currie]

Hello Trish,

Here’s my chance to put in a plug for “Sketch of the History and Imperfect Condition of the Parochial Records of Births, Deaths and Marriages in Scotland” published 1854.

The author, George Seton, mentions a case of a marriage entry in an English Parish Register.

“1722. This day were married by Mr. Holloway, a couple whose name I could never learn, for he allowed them to carry away the license.”

Some unfortunate 20th Century genealogist is probably spending time and money trying to pin that one down.

http://books.google.com.au/books?id=BZs ... 22&f=false

All the best,
Alan

[LesleyB]

“1722. This day were married by Mr. Holloway, a couple whose name I could never learn, for he allowed them to carry away the license.”

What a fantastic quote Alan - you can just hear the resigned sigh of the session clerk (or his Engish equivalent) in that written line, and it sums up exactly the sort of events which create the the trials and frustrations of family history research!

Best wishes
Lesley

[Montrose Budie]

Regardless of the practice of calling banns in both parishes - there are no OPRs of the marriage or banns from either parish - so I wonder why the family had a copy of such a document. I was thinking they may have been given same to take to the other parish to prove that the banns had been called - but given it was all about 160 years ago - I shall probably never know.

.....snipped...... Trish

They almost certainly has either or both a copy of the proclamation of the banns or the actual marriage certificate, - the so-called 'marriage lines'.

mb