Record_ID: 49955
Entry_Number: 278
Year: 1902
Month: Feb
Day: 14
Grooms_Surname: LEWIS
Grooms_Forenames: William
Grooms_Age: 25
Groom_Condition: Bachelor
Grooms_Occupation: Labourer
Grooms_Residence: Tudorville Ross
Grooms_Fathers_Surname: Lewis
Grooms_Fathers_Forenames: James
Grooms_Fathers_Occupation: Mason
Brides_Surname: SCOTFORD
Brides_Forenames: Emily Annie
Brides_Age: 29
Brides_Condition: Widow
Brides_Occupation:
Brides_Residence: Tudorville Ross
Brides_Fathers_Surname: Colwell (deceased)
Brides_Fathers_Forenames: Robert
Brides_Fathers_Occupation: Farmer
Licence_or_Banns: Certificate
Date_of_Banns:
Signature_or_Mark: Both sign
Witness_1: Jane Lewis
Witness_2: P D [illegible]
Other_Witnesses:
Officiating_Minister: E H W Ingram Rector
Event: Marriage
Memoranda:
Notes:
Register_Reference: BW 14/7
Page_Number: 139
Parish_Chapel: Ross on Wye
Soundex_Groom: L200
Soundex_Bride: S316

Can anyone throw any light onto the entry of Certificate in the above record?

Thanks.

My memory might be a bit hazy but I believe an Act of around 1836 allowed a registrar to issue a license or certificate (which remained valid for about 3 months) which a couple could then take to any place authorized to conduct marriages and have the ceremony take place. However, the legality was a bit ambiguous and many clergy held it to be at odds with canon law. Maybe this might explain the entry. I gather it was somewhat rare.

Thanks Mike.

And this, I think, is it. Provided, of course, that anyone can understand it.

http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1836_%2834%29_Marriages._A_bill_for_Marriages_in_England

Crystal clear.

Many thanks Mike.