C of E church marriages not approved.

[kiwilong]

Does anybody know about marriages not sanctioned by the Church of England in the mid 1800s?
James Poyner (piner sometimes) married my 1st cousin3x removed, Emma Long, in the parish church of Mells, Somerset, on the 7th June 1870. However Emma died in the June quarter of 1871.
Don't have the certificate so cause unknown, child birth perhaps, but doesn't appear to be any child, dead or otherwise.
James then arranged to marry my 2nd great aunt and Emma's cousin, Lavinia Jane Long, on the 29th December 1874 in the same church. The entry in the parish register is not complete, unsigned and crossed out.
The marriage seems to have taken place on the same date, 29th December 1874 but in the registration district of Clutton which does not include Mells.
I think it was a civil marriage and did proceed resulting in several children.
So, I wonder if the couple had made arrangements with the Mells church minister who prepared the entry in the register and then discovered the relationship between the two brides.
The information I have seen does not appear to prohibit such a marriage in the church, can anybody throw any light on this for me?
Thanks
kiwilong.

 

[Pauline]

Looking in the Mells register, there is a note by the crossed out entry indicating that the parties had arrived without the Banns certificate. Without proof that the necessary legal preliminaries had happened the marriage could not have taken place.

 

[Pauline]

Having looked further, it seems the marriage actually took place in the parish church in Radstock, James Poyner’s parish, and that the Banns had been read there.

So my guess is the couple simply forgot to collect the Radstock Banns certificate to take with them to Mells, and rather than go back to Radstock to collect it, and then traipse back to Mells to marry, they took the Mells Banns certificate with them to Radstock and were able to marry there the same day.

 

[kiwilong]

Thanks Pauline.
Interesting situation, i didn't notice the note in the margin, however what you suggest is likely the answer. It must have been quite a day for the bridal party.
They were lucky to be able to get married the same day.
I could probably prove it by buying the certificate from the GRO.
kiwilong.

 

[Pauline]

I could probably prove it by buying the certificate from the GRO.

Images of Somerset parish registers, including this marriage, are available at Ancestry. If your subscription covers it, it would save the cost of a certificate.

 

[peter]

Well done, Pauline - a true LostCousins Star! It sounds like all the evidence was there - it just needed to be evaluated. The fact that they lived in different parishes was another big clue - and it's not surprising that they hot-footed it to Radstock where the vicar married them the same day (presumably they purchased a banns certificate from Mells before heading off).

Even without an Ancestry subscription you can confirm that they married in Radstock on 29/12/1874 by carry out a search and specifying 'Exact' for each item. Free searches at subscription sites can be incredibly useful when you can't afford a subscription.

 

[kiwilong]

Thank you both.
I found the image of the Radstock register entry only when I used the grooms name for some reason, brides name just turned up the Mells register image.
I don't have a large number in my tree but I like to be as sure as possible that what I do have is correct.
Anyway, all good now and I'm very happy with your reasoning Pauline.
kiwilong.