Sarum Diocese Marriage Licence Bonds and Allegations (WIL, BRK, DOR, DEV)

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Introduction

The Sarum Diocese covered most of Wiltshire, most of Berkshire, parts of Dorset and a small area in Devon.

The database has been compiled from the bonds and allegations or sometimes from earlier transcriptions. In all cases it has been checked against the original documents which are deposited in the Wiltshire and Swindon Record Office.

The issuing of a licence does not necessarily mean that a marriage took place; some people may have had second thoughts and, it is believed, some thought the licence was sufficient and it was not necessary to get married. If a marriage did take place, it may not have been in a parish named in the bond of allegation. Note also that the marriage register or bishops transcript may not have survived, thus making the licence the only evidence of the intended marriage.

Coverage

This collection contains over 75,700 records of bonds issued between 1609 and 1823 and allegations from 1824 to 1837. The Record Office catalogues both in the same series. The following jurisdictions are covered.

MLB & MLAThe Bishop of Salisbury in Wiltshire and Berkshire
DLB & DLAThe Dean of Sarum in Wiltshire, Berkshire, Dorset and Uffculme, Devon
ELB & ELAThe Dean & Chapter in Salisbury, Wiltshire
TLB & TLAThe Treasurer in Alderbury, Figheldean, Pitton and Calne, Wiltshire
PLB & PLAThe Precentor in Westbury, Bratton and Dilton, Wiltshire
GLB & GLAThe Peculiar of Gillingham in Dorset, including Motcombe
CLBThe Peculiar of Corsham in Wiltshire, including Stratton St Margaret
HLBThe Prebend of Chute and Chisenbury in Wiltshire, including Winterbourne Dauntsey
WLBWantage in Berkshire

Search techniques

You may search using the name of the groom or bride with his or her county of residence. Note however that not all grooms and brides have a county of residence stated and these people will thus not appear in the search results.

You may search using the name of the groom or bride with the county Wiltshire as this is where the documents were issued. This will find all corresponding records, wherever the couple lived and in whichever county the marriage was to take place.

A search on 'all counties' will list entries under both Wiltshire and the county of residence (if the county of residence is not Wiltshire).

Transcription and conventions used

The database includes the following fields:

  • Admin; the county in which the administration was situated, always WIL.
  • Source; the jurisdiction which issued the licence, abbreviated as given in Coverage above.
  • Date; Year Month Day
  • Forenames of Groom.
  • Surname of Groom.
  • Age of Groom; not always given.
  • Occupation of Groom; not always given.
  • Residence of Groom; not always given.
  • County code; in many cases a county was not given and could not be inferred. Occasionally the residence was abroad and the place has no recognised code.
  • State of Groom; usually bac for bachelor or wid for widower; not always given.
  • Notes for Groom; anything relevant that does not appear in another field.
  • Forenames of Bride
  • Surname of Bride.
  • Age of Bride; not always given.
  • Residence of Bride; not always given.
  • County code; in many cases a county was not given and could not be inferred.
  • State of Bride; usually sp for spinster or wid for widower; not always given.
  • Notes for Bride; anything relevant that does not appear in another field.
  • Bondsman 1; usually including surname, forenames, occupation, address; sometimes age.
  • Bondsman 2; occasionally a second bondsman was given with the same information as for the first.
  • Marriage; place or places where the marriage could take place; not always given.

Abbreviations and Codes

The Chapman county codes have been used to indicate the County of the bride and groom.

See Coverage for administration codes.

Checking

This data has been checked.

Contact details

If you suspect an entry has been mis-transcribed please report the problem to ppv@wiltshirefhs.co.uk

Grouping

There are no groups in this database.

How to buy

Wiltshire Family History Society provide an enquiry service - their address is: 10 Castle Lane, Devizes, Wiltshire SN10 1HJ, or email society@wiltshirefhs.co.uk or via website www.wiltshirefhs.co.uk .

A CD-ROM of the marriage licence bonds and allegations in fully searchable form is available from the Society.

The Wiltshire FHS has also produced many parish register indexes and other publications. These can also be purchased online via GENfair or by mail order from the Society.

Copyright and disclaimer

Copyright in the transcriptions is owned by the Trustees of the Wiltshire Family History Society.

While every care has been taken in the preparation of this database users are advised to view the original bonds where possible and to check marriage registers, or the Bishop's transcripts of them, for corresponding marriages. However, please note that some of the early bonds are now so fragile that they cannot be produced for researchers.

The Wiltshire Family History Society accepts no liability for any errors or omissions that remain.

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