| Quality of the originals |
Before the introduction of the printed form for Allegations in 1753, Surrogates made relevant notes of ages, parishes of residence and the church(es) named for the ceremony on some part of the Bond. Others used scraps of parchment with the consequence that once these scraps became separated from the bond, there would be little chance of them being relinked.
The Surrogate for the Nottinghamshire area generally seems to have entered the woman's parish on the bonds before 1753 but in contrast; the Surrogate for the Laughton-en-le-Morthen Prebend, who appears to have been based in the Letwell with Gildingwells area failed in nine cases out of ten to enter the name of the church named for ceremony, for almost two decades after the printed form was introduced.
In addition, the records have been affected by the ravages of time, hungry church mice and the upheaval of the Civil War.
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| Dates |
The year shown in the Index is as it appears on the Bond with no attempt to account for the Old and New style dating. Until the Gregorian Calendar was introduced in October 1752, a year commenced on 25th March under the Old style dating.
Marriage Bonds were discontinued in 1823 and a new print of the Allegation was introduced which has caused a few problems. The heading read "The Day of, in the year of our LORD One Thousand Eight Hundred and Twenty ". Some Surrogates during this decade failed to enter the final year. The actual date will be somewhere between late 1823 and 1829.
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| Name spelling |
Generally the spelling of the surname and Christian names is as shown on the Bond but if there is a valid reason for changing any particulars, an explanation is given in the Notes. Where the spelling of the surname varies between that given by the surrogate and the signature of the applicant the signature has been taken.
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| Place names |
The spelling of towns and villages has usually been given as written but the name of the church or chapel has been given in it's modern version. All places are assumed to be in Yorkshire unless otherwise stated.
A few place names have been changed or are obscure and the following should be noted:
- Kingston upon Hull is always referred to as Hull
- Ardsley could be East or West Ardsley
- Gill is now Barnoldswick
- Hutton Rudby is now Rudby in Cleveland
- Kirkby over Carr is now Kirkby Misperton
- Kirkthorpe Is Warmfield
- Paghill is Paull
- Robin Hoods Bay is Fylingdales
- Sandall Parva is Kirk Sandall
- Skeckling is now Burstwick
- Waghen is now Wawne
- Woodkirk or Woodchurch is West Ardsley
- Wosper is Worsborough.
Some Surrogates used the diocese instead of the parish. This creates problems where a diocese covers several countiss such as Lincoln. Litchfield & Coventry includes Derbyshire and when the diocese follows a place like Chesterfield, there is an insoluble problem, is lt the one in Derbyshire or Litchfield? It should be remembered that "Lincs" can include counties to the south and that the abbreviation L&C indicates that the parish is in the Diocese of Litchfield & Coventry.
In a small number of cases, the church and parish was shown as "St John" and there was no evidence as to the location. The signature on the Bonds suggests that researchers should initially check in the Letwell, Gildingwells, Langold area. There is also a chapelry of St John in the Laughton-en-le-Morthen Prebend which at different times has been referred to on the Bonds as Thorpe, Thropham or Throapham St John, As a last resort, a check could be made on the records of the York city church, St John, Ouse-bridge.
Because the names of some parishes. are too long to be inserted in full under the heading of Parish/Township, the problem has been mitigated by the use of an oblique sign in the place of "on the" "under" etc. See examples under "Other Abbreviations".
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| Abbreviations |
Click here for Table of Abbreviations Used.
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| Indicator * |
* This mark against the woman's name indicates that she applied for the licence and the Bond is in her name. They would have been filed under that name but since the Bonds were filmed 1987 they may be filed under the man's name.
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| NameX |
NameX is a proprietary name-matching tool which allows you to find family records for names which have common variations in spelling or which may have been spelled incorrectly on some records.
Click here for more help.
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