Scotland's People Old Parish Records - Marriage
Hello,
Can someone enlighten me please?
In the past when I have purchased Marriage OPR'S dated 1770's and early 1800's of my ancestors off Scotland's People Website, I have found that on the documents it has given the place of residence at the time of marriage. As it was "law" that the spouse be at a distance 21 days before marriage, the time that the Banns were mentioned each Sunday 3 wks before marriage.
Question: Why would some OPR documents not have the places of residence mentioned of the married couple does anyone know?
Sandie
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Sorry I cannot provide a direct answer to your question, only to say that from the start of my research into Scottish ancestry I was disappointed to find how little information regarding marriages is to be found in the "OPRs".
I have just scrolled through the images I have downloaded relating to my Scottish ancestors' marriages and found just one that did include places of residence. For the most part, any marriage information is confined to details of the marriage "proclamation" - not the ceremony itself.
I believe the "legal" position was that a couple could make their marriage vows away from a church (established or otherwise), which I imagine is why I have found no trace whatsoever of marriage records for many of my ancestors.
Perhaps the situation varies for the different counties / jurisdictions in Scotland. My research has been confined to Roxburghshire, Berwickshire and Banffshire, so perhaps your experience is not the same as mine because your interests lie in other counties.
However, I would never expect to find formal recordings of marriage banns / proclamations as found in England (found for the three Sundays before the ceremony, which you mention). If you have found something similar in Scottish registers you have been most fortunate, as this is possibly the "exception rather than the rule".
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Hi Sandie,
I haven't come across the residency requirement you mention in Scottish church records. However, the official guide to these records has plenty of useful information about marriage records here https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/guides/church-registers#Contents
As Paul mentions, these earlier records often contain a minimum of necessary information, and details such as the place of residence or even the occupation of the groom are frequently not included. Certainly, what were termed "irregular marriages" were commonplace and required no church, clergy, banns, or record, only the declaration of the couple in front of witnesses.
Parish church records vary greatly in content and consistency even within a parish, and certainly from one parish to the next. This was mainly dependent on the diligence (or otherwise) of the clerk who was in charge of record-keeping for the church. Some amusing examples of records which highlight this kind of situation are found at https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/research/guides/birth-death-and-marriage-records/genealogical-gems
Good luck in your Scottish research,
Alison
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Thank you Paul and Alison for your comments.
Just to show you what I mean and to make it clearer as to what I meant in my question. I have attached a 1779 marriage snippet of my ancestor's OPR, it mentions the places that I was referring to. It looks small even though it's not, maybe if you click on the image it will enlarge and make it readable.
Regards, Sandie.
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Sandie
Thank you for sharing the image with us. Having had this experience of dealing with a record containing this amount of detail, I can better understand your query. But, no, as I previously commented, I have not found this practice to always be the case - far from it! It really can help having that extra detail on residences. Sadly, I am unlikely to benefit from this factor, as I appear to have gone as far as I can go with my (geographically very limited) Scottish ancestry and the entries I have encountered have contained so little detail that I have had to make assumptions based on there being no other likely possibilities to be found.
Thanks again for sharing your findings and best wishes with your future searches.
Paul
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Thank you for your reply Paul.
Sorry to read that you have had difficulties with your family research, I must have been very fortunate.
Although I have one elusive lady my Scottish great grandmother x 3 who has just been found and excepted as best as the information allows. It took 7 years on my own without Ancestry.com to find her hiding place, I'm not 100% sure but it will do for now. Good Luck with what you find, I hope you find more.
Sandie
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A declaration of marraige was all that was needed in the long past. You only had to state 3 times that you were married in front of witnessess and it became a legal marriage
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Hello,
Yes I am aware of this practice, thank you.
Sandie
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To whom it may concern
Please do not reply to this thread as it is now closed, some people have completely missed the content of my question.
I have found the answer. Thank you.
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