Puzzling marriage cert.

[cyfareddol]

My grandparents marriage was solemnized on 10 October 1918 but this has been altered to 1917.

The witness signed and dated on 9 February 1918.

He's the same person who completed the certificate,i.e. he witnessed his own signature.

Either the registration was five months after the wedding, or the registration was nine months before the wedding.

The date of registration in public records is 1917.

Can anybody explain the contradictory dates and the absence of a witness?

[BC Wench]

When you say “witness” do you mean the Vicar? If so, he could have written that the wedding was solemnized on 10 October 1918. Some months passed and someone noticed, either the Vicar or bride/groom that the year was wrong. The Vicar would then correct the mistake by writing in 1917 and he would have to sign or initial and put the date of the alteration.

[cyfareddol]

When you say “witness” do you mean the Vicar? If so, he could have written that the wedding was solemnized on 10 October 1918. Some months passed and someone noticed, either the Vicar or bride/groom that the year was wrong. The Vicar would then correct the mistake by writing in 1917 and he would have to sign or initial and put the date of the alteration.

Thank you for your reply.

I don't know if the person who made the entry and signed and witnessed was the vicar, it was the same person but no Rev. or similar title.
The wedding date was entered as October 1918 and the register entry at the bottom of the cert. is February.1918. This predates the wedding.
The wedding date has been altered to 1917 and no initials,signature or date.
Parish records show the marriage was in 1917!
If the alteration to 1917 is correct then the Vicar? could have got the year wrong in both places and only changed one but this doesn't explain the six month gap in the dates.
Are errors like these common?

[grangers14]

Can you transcribed the info you have so we can see?
Jo

[cyfareddol]

I've attached a copy of the Marriage Certificate.

[Jimmy]

According to Ancestry there is no 1918 on the marriage cert, yours is a duplicated copy of the original issued in February 1918, some of the writing is different.

The number on your copy 152 is hand written, not typed.



Wilfred Henry Marshall.
Age: 31.
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1886.
Spouse Name: Harriet Emma Rowe.
Spouse Age: 19.
Record Type: Marriage.
Event Date: 10 Oct 1917.
Parish: Haggerston St Augustine.
Borough: Hackney.
Father Name: Henry Charles Marshall.
Spouse Father Name: William Henry Rowe.
Register Type: Parish Register.

Image available,

London, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1921 Record for Wilfred Henry Marshall.

If you don't have a subscription for Ancestry PM me your email address and I can send you a copy..