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Marrying by banns on a Sunday.

I had previously thought that the marriage of Thomas Vernon and Elizabeth West (1809) by banns on a Sunday was odd.  I understood that ecclesiastical law required Sunday marriages to be by licence.  Here's why:

Many people were forced to marry by licence by church rules.  The only day that was free for many people to marry was Sunday - but marriage on Sunday had to be by licence.

Barbara Dixon, Marriages and Certificates in England & Wales, p5, Parchment (Oxford) Limited, 2000 (ISBN 09535304 I X)

However, it seems that Barbara Dixon is wrong.  No-where can I find this rule verified.  In several different books which cover marriage law, this rule is never mentioned.  She may have been misled by the The Directory of Public Worship (which replaced the Book of Common Prayer from 1645 to 1660).  It stated that marriage should be...

...at some convenient hour of the day, at any time of the year, except on a day of public Humiliation.  And we advise that it not be on the Lord's day.

Despite this advise, Sunday was for many people the only day available for marriage, with all other days of the week given to work.

Regarding the day of the week, Sunday offered the best opportunity for publicity, so dispelling any suspicion of a clandestine union; Sunday also had the advantage that more parishioners could take a few hours from work to participate in the festivities.

Colin Chapman, Marriage Laws, Rites, Records & Customs, p43, Lochin Publishing, 1997 (ISBN 1 873686 02 1)

So, I conclude that to marriage by banns on Sunday must have been perfectly normal.  A quick look at a parish register would verify this.

One last thing to notice is that the time of marriage was - and still is - very important,  Under the 1823 Marriage Act it was a felony to marry other than between 8am and 12 noon unless by Special Licence.  The 1886 Marriage Act extended the permitted hours for marriage after bans to between 8am and 3pm.  And in 1936 the hours were extended further to between 8am and 6pm.  However, even today, a person who solemnizes marriage outside the permitted hours can be imprisoned for up to 14 years!!

Procedure for Marriage by Banns

The banns were read, called or published in the parish church where the couple lived on three Sundays.  If the couple lived in different parishes, then they were read in each parish.  Throughout the three weeks required for publication, anyone could come forward and cite an impediment - the reason why the marriage could not go ahead.  Prior to the 1834 New Poor Law, it was not uncommon to object to the marriage of a poor couple who might become a drain on parish funds.  If there was no objection, the couple would marry in one parish church or the other.

Procedure for Marriage by Licence

Cannon Law provided for the granting of a Common Licence for the solemnization of matrimony by an archbishop, a bishop or an ordinary.  The licences cost money, so usually the gentry, and sometimes small landholders or professionals took advantage of marrying this way to avoid the publicity or delays necessitated by calling banns.

 The system for administering licences was common to that of granting probate.  If both parties lived in the same archdeaconry, an archdeacon's licence was issued.  If both parties lived in different archdeaconries within the same diocese, a bishop's licence was issued from the Consistory Court - usually by a Surrogate acting on behalf of the bishop.  If the parties were from different dioceses within the same province, the licence was issued by either the Archbishop of Canterbury through his Vicar General, or by the Archbishop of York, or their Surrogates.  If the parties were from different provinces, then the licence was issued by the Master of Faculties from the Faculty Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury.  Some 'peculiar' parishes were permitted to issue their own licences.

Click here for more information about Vicar General and Faculty Office marriage licences.

This page was last updated on Thursday, 07 February 2002. email me, Copyright © 2000 James Vernon. All rights reserved.