Dual Registration

thomsj1 · Post by **thomsj1** » Tue Jul 29, 2008 8:01 pm

Hi

I did an OPR marriage search in Wigtownshire in 1784 and turned up two records in which the names are almost identical but the timing is 2 weeks apart and in two separate parishes. In one parish the parties are James Thompson and Agnas McSkelly. In the other the names are James Thomson and Agnes Skelley. If the bride and groom resided in separate parishes was it normal practice to record the marriage in both sets of parish records ?

Cheers

Jim

Russell · Post by **Russell** » Tue Jul 29, 2008 8:46 pm

Hi Jim

Not only was it usual practice by the established Church of Scotland requirements it was essential if the bride and groom were from different parishes.
You know the bit where the Minister says.." If anyone knows why these two people should not be married ?" then pauses all of two seconds. That is where a protestor should jump up and say " I do !"
If the couple gave in their names to the Minister before the date of the proposed wedding. He could 'Call the Banns' i.e. announce their intention of marrying, which he would do three times. This gave the congregation time to think of any reason why they should not get married, such as a close family relationship which made them cousins, or a pre-existing marriage of one partner.
Since paper was expensive and folk were not always literate the later tradition of posting a paper outside the church or Registry Office would not have informed all of the congregation.
Sometimes on the LDS (Latter Day Saints) site they have entered as many as six dates of marriage. These would be almost certainly be dates when the Banns were called since the date of the actual marriage was often not recorded in the Old Parochial Registers (OPR)

Russell

thomsj1 · Post by **thomsj1** » Tue Jul 29, 2008 9:59 pm

Thanks for the explanation Russell. I'm pretty chuffed because I've now managed to go back 6 generations.

I was born and raised in Glasgow and all my relatives were from the same area so I was surprised when four generations back I tracked the family to Stranraer. Now I've found them in Portpatrick as well. In my early twenties I was a keen angler and spent a lot of time in Wigtownshire, especially Stranraer & most of all Portpatrick. I never knew what drew me there - must have been the genes !

Cheers

Jim

Russell · Post by **Russell** » Tue Jul 29, 2008 10:51 pm

Well done Jim

It's a great feeling when you satisfy yourself that all the searching has turned up the correct folk.
When you mentioned Stranraer my thought was 'Oh Oh ! next stop Ireland and that seems to be a bit of a nightmare finding family there.

I know the feeling of being drawn to an area. I started out in the Lothians but moved as a teenager across to the other side of the country and immediately felt totally at home. It was only when I took my Young family line back a few generations that I discovered that they were from Ayrshire then moved to Glasgow.

Have you had a look at dumgal.gov.uk to see if you find any rellies there in 1851

We did - on my wife's side

Good luck in your next hunt

Russell

thomsj1 · Post by **thomsj1** » Tue Jul 29, 2008 11:41 pm

I have to admit I thought there would be an Irish link from Stranraer but all of the Thomsons I've found so far were born in Scotland. However my mother was a Devlin and I found a link to Ireland in the 1861 census. Problem is that looking for an Irish Patrick Devlin is a bit like looking for an English John Smith - it's going to take a wee while !

Cheers

Jim