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Nonconformist Marriages

PostPosted: Sun Sep 15, 2019 11:28 am
by BC Wench
I'm helping Mally tie up the photos from Bell End Chapel Rowley Regis on the forum to names on BCC. As the marriages of these couples are listed on West Mids BMD as taking place at Dudley Register Office, it doesn't necessarily mean that's where the marriage took place.

When a marriage took place at a nonconformist chapel, the local Superintendent Registrar was in attendance and would write out all the info onto a marriage certificate, this register would then be kept at his/her Register Office.

Some nonconformist chapels could appoint a person to keep a marriage register at their own chapel or what is known as a "circuit" register, where a person of a particular denomination, i.e. methodist, baptist etc., would attend marriages around their particular area entering the info into a register.

It's only just come to mind while entering these marriages, that I thought I would share this info just in case anybody didn't know about nonconformist marriages.

Re: Nonconformist Marriages

PostPosted: Sun Sep 15, 2019 9:13 pm
by mallosa
Thanks Barb, I've learned something new :wink:

Re: Nonconformist Marriages

PostPosted: Tue Sep 17, 2019 12:43 pm
by gardener
Thanks for this :-)

I just finished reading a book called It's Not about the Burqua (2019), and one author (Aina Khan OBE) points out that even in the 1949 Marriage Act, it states that only Church of England, Jewish and Quaker marriages must be legally registered. For all other faiths marriages may register their marriage, but if they don't then their marriage will have no legal status.

This seems to have been the case after 1836 Marriage Act too. So I'm wondering if some of the "marriages" that we can't find, and dismiss as just living together, were actually in non-conformist places but never registered.

I wonder if there are any records from obscure little non-conformist congregations that show marriages that were never registered?