1880s

[Skip]

I'm trying to trace my GGrandfather's parents.
I have a copy of his marriage certificate, but the details about his parents are left blank and so I was wondering what information you needed to get married in the mid 1880s.

Did you need a birth cert/baptism cert?
Did you need to provee that you were a local resident?


Any help would be appreciated.

 

[juliejtp]

Hi Skip,

A birth certificate wouldnt have been needed, as for proof of residency I'm not sure. What about the witnesses they could be relatives?

 

[Skip]

Hi Skip,

A birth certificate wouldnt have been needed, as for proof of residency I'm not sure. What about the witnesses they could be relatives?

Hi Julie,

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately the surnames of the witnesses were 'Jones', not a family name.

Interesting, you didn't need a birth certificate?
I wonder how you proved that you were... well... you?

 

[Guy]

It is a modern notion that people had to prove who they are.

Why should you have to prove who you are to get married?

In most communities people knew and talked to each other, therefore the announcement of banns was sufficient.
Licences had their own safeguards.
Cheers
Guy