England, Cheshire, Marriage Bonds and Allegations - FamilySearch Historical Records

England Cheshire

This collection consists of marriage bonds and allegations from the county of Cheshire for the years 1606-1900.

What is in the Collection?
This collection contains an index to various record types necessary to obtain a marriage license. The original records are held at the Cheshire Archives.

Marriage allegations and bonds were sworn statements filed by a bride and groom as part of a marriage license application. The allegation stated that there was no known reason that the marriage should not take place; bonds contractually obligated the signers to pay a sum of money if the allegation was incorrect. Until 1733, marriage bonds were written partly in Latin but the wording was standardized. Furthermore, the printed forms that were in use by the 1690s also help in deciphering the records.

Due to both tradition and a fee associated with obtaining a marriage license, most English couples were married by banns, not by license, and so would have neither a marriage allegation nor its related bond. However, families able to pay the fee would often avoid the reading of public banns and obtain a license, since many families did not like the thought of public objection to the intended marriage. Before the 1830s, nonconformists were required to marry officially in the Church of England, so most applied for licenses, rather than having their marriage announced by banns. Other possible reasons for obtaining marriage licenses are explained in the Marriage Allegations, Bonds and Licences in England and Wales article.

Although most bonds and allegations have survived, some are in poor condition and difficult to read, especially when the microfilmed images are badly focused. Licenses themselves were not normally retained for long after being handed to the officiating minister, though exceptions are known to exist.

Jurisdictions
For a list of the parishes which historically made up this county with links to more information about each of them, see the Cheshire Parishes page. Before 1847, Cheshire was overseen by the Diocese of Chester, which also covered certain parishes in Lancashire. Records from some Lancashire parishes may therefore be present in the collection; it could be helpful to use the Historical Jurisdictions Map to locate pre-1851 parish boundaries.

What Can This Collection Tell Me?
The following list indicates potential information provided in these records. It must be remembered that every record may not provide all the listed information, as record-keeping practices varied greatly over time.

Marriage Bonds and Allegations may include:
 * Names of bride and groom
 * Ages of bride and groom
 * Bride and groom’s occupations
 * Whether the individuals were single or widowed
 * Parish of residence
 * Where the marriage was to take place (sometimes included)
 * Parents’ name or signature (sometimes included)
 * If either of the marriage partners was a minor, the allegation would name the parent or guardian consenting to the marriage.

How Do I Search the Collection?
Before searching, it is best to know the following information: As you search, compare your results with this information to find a match.
 * Name of the person
 * Date range for the record

Search the Index

 * 1) Go to the Collection Page
 * 2) Enter the requested information into the search box
 * 3) Click Search to return a list of possible matches

I Found the Person I Was Looking for, What Now?

 * Make sure to fully transcribe and cite the record entry for future reference. See below for assistance in citing this collection. Save or print a copy of the image if possible.
 * Be careful using the listed age to estimate a birth year. Rather than listing actual ages, clerks often wrote in 21 as the age of both the bride and groom to show that they each were of legal age.
 * If in the appropriate period, use the information which has been discovered to find the individual in civil records. Particularly useful for research in nineteenth-century England are the England Census and the England Civil Registration records.
 * Continue to search the index to identify children, siblings, parents, and other relatives. Note that family members often appear on an individual's vital records, such as in the role of witnesses to a marriage.

I Can’t Find the Person I’m Looking for, What Now?
For additional help searching online collections see FamilySearch Search Tips and Tricks.
 * When looking for a person with a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which individual is correct. Use other information, such as place of birth, age, occupation, or names of parents, to determine which candidate is the correct person. If listed, a personal title may be a clue to property ownership or occupation, either of which might be noted in other records.
 * Check for variants of given names, surnames, and place names. Transcription errors could occur in any handwritten record; also, it was not uncommon for an individual be listed under a nickname or an abbreviation of their name. See Abbreviations Found in Genealogy Records for examples of common abbreviations. Note that some women reverted to their maiden name when their husband died, and therefore could be buried under their maiden name.
 * Vary the search terms. For example, search by either the given name or surname to return broader list of possible candidates which can then be examined for matches.
 * Search the records of nearby parishes. While it was uncommon for an individual in this period to move more than about 20 miles from their place of birth, smaller relocations were not uncommon. For this particular collection, this step may require finding records in the bordering English counties of Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire or Shropshire to the south, or in the Welsh counties of Denbighshire and Flintshire to the west. Note that marriages usually took place in the parish where the bride resided.

Citing this Collection
Proper citations make it easier to get back to sources that you have found, so citing sources properly can help you keep track of research. Correct citations also allow others to check completed research by giving them a way to find and examine records for themselves.

Below are the proper citations to use for this whole collection as well as for individual records within it:

Collection Citation:

Record Citation (or citation for the index entry):