John Fordham, Bachelor, and Alice Pinder, Spinster, married on 15 April 1733 (26 April 1733)[1] at Fleet Prison in London, England[2][3]; a popular venue for irregular and clandestine marriages:
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| Fleet Marriage entry - John Fordham and Alice Pinder via Ancestry.com [London, England Clandestine Marriage and Baptism Registers 1667-1754] |
The officiating Ministers are recorded as: Wigmore, Hanson, Backler, Ashwell, Cuthbert, and Gaynam[4].
At that time, the rules for marriage within the Church were very restrictive. While most couples married at the family church, a significant number chose, for various reasons, to bypass the regulations and marry outside the Church where requirements associated with a valid marriage were much looser. These marriages are generally referred to as ‘irregular’ or ‘clandestine’ marriages[5]. Irregular marriages were marriages that did not comply with Church Law, whilst clandestine marriages were irregular marriages that had an added element of secrecy. Although not complying with Church Law, irregular marriages did comply with Common Law and were, therefore, considered valid marriages for the purposes of such things as inheritance and proof of legitimacy[6].Church Law Marriages vis-Ã -vis Common Law Marriages
Under both Church Law and Common Law, in order for marriages to be valid they had to be conducted by an ordained Anglican clergyman. In addition, each person being married must have consented to the marriage and be of legal age. In 1733, when John and Alice married, the legal age for marriage was 14 years old for males and 12 years old for females. For Common Law marriages, parental consent was not required over and above the couple being of legal age. For marriages under Church Law, even though the couple was of legal age, parental consent was required if either of them was aged under 21 years[7].
In addition, there were a number of other requirements for marriages under Church Law that didn't apply to marriages under Common Law. Firstly, either Banns had to be called or a marriage licence obtained. Calling Banns entailed a series of public announcements made on three consecutive Sundays prior to the wedding giving the names of the engaged couple and declaring that the marriage was to take place. Obtaining a marriage licence circumvented the need to call Banns but was an expensive option. In addition, Church law marriages had to take place in the parish of at least one of the people being married and it had to be conducted between 8am and noon (‘canonical hours’)[8].
Common Law Marriages
Irregular marriages were usually conducted by Anglican clergyman who were not in receipt of a regular income from the Church. These clergymen relied on the fees they could charge for conducting Common Law marriages. Clergymen who were in regular employment with the Church were much less likely to conduct Common Law marriages because of the disapproval this would attract from the Church[9] and the possibility of negative consequences that may ensue for them.
A number of institutions met the demand for these marriages[10][11]. One of these was Fleet Prison where John and Alice married.
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| From: 'Fleet Marriages' via FamilyHistory.co.uk |
Fleet Prison
Fleet Prison, like the other venues that performed irregular and clandestine marriages, was popular with couples seeking a Common Law marriage. By the early 18th Century, it was estimated that up to a third of all marriages were irregular or clandestine[12]. In addition, around half of all marriages in London (about a seventh of all English weddings) were performed at or around Fleet prison[13].
Over a number of years there had been various attempts by the Church and Parliament to reign in Common Law marriages, for example, by punishing clergymen and imposing fines:
“By the late 1600s, the Church of England and Parliament had largely succeeded in reigning in those clergymen who performed irregular or clandestine marriages; provided those clergymen had assets or a reputation to lose … However, some clergymen had ‘neither liberty, money, nor credit to lose’ . The various measures to end irregular marriages did not affect them. Quite the opposite in fact; these men had now been gifted a near monopoly on the practice. Such clergymen included debtors languishing in debtors’ prisons such as Fleet Prison and Kings Bench Prison”[14].
“By the late 1600s, the Church of England and Parliament had largely succeeded in reigning in those clergymen who performed irregular or clandestine marriages; provided those clergymen had assets or a reputation to lose … However, some clergymen had ‘neither liberty, money, nor credit to lose’ . The various measures to end irregular marriages did not affect them. Quite the opposite in fact; these men had now been gifted a near monopoly on the practice. Such clergymen included debtors languishing in debtors’ prisons such as Fleet Prison and Kings Bench Prison”[14].
Fleet Prison was a debtors’ prison based in Fleet Market (modern day Farringdon Street) in the City of London. A number of clergymen were imprisoned in Fleet Prison for debt. They had nothing to lose from conducting Common Law marriages. In fact, they welcomed the income they could gain. This income enabled them to live outside the prison walls. For a fee, inmates of the Prison were able to live in the surrounding area comprising parts of Ludgate Hill, the Old Bailey and Fleet Lane. This area was known as the ‘Rules’ or the ‘Liberties’.
Fleet weddings were initially held in the Fleet Prison Chapel itself, with the prison warden taking a cut of the proceeds. However, over time, more and more were conducted outside the prison in the ‘Rules’. Some marriages took place in one of the taverns within the 'Rules'; the tavern keeper taking a cut of the proceeds. By the time an Act of Parliament was passed in 1711 to impose a fine on any prison warden who allowed weddings in the Prison Chapel, most Fleet marriages were being conducted in the ‘Rules’[15][16].
“By the 1740s, it was estimated that a half of all weddings in London were performed at the Fleet i.e. around 6,500 per year … [and on 24 March 1754], the day before the ban on irregular or clandestine marriages came into effect, one Fleet register recorded 217 marriages"[17][18].
So, what do we know about John and Alice and what led them to decide on an irregular marriage at Fleet Prison? To date, I have found very little about them.
John and Alice
John was a farmer from Tottenham (then Middlesex), London[19]. He died in 1772 at the age of 63 and was buried on 1 November 1772 at All Hallows' Church in Tottenham[20]. This suggests that he was born in about 1709. If that is the case, he would have been about 24 when he married Alice.
To date, I have found only one baptism that may fit with this. It is for a John Fordham baptised on 22 April 1711 (3 May 1711)[21] at St John’s, Hackney (father John Fordham)[22]. However, that would mean that John was about 2 years old when he was baptised. There is another baptism for a John Fordham on 8 January 1712/1713 (19 January 1913)[23] at Bell Yard, St Dunstan in the West in London (father John Fordham, mother Elizabeth)[24]. However, the image indicates a birthdate of 27 December 1712 (7 January 1713)[25]. This John would have been too young, if the age of 63 recorded at John’s death in 1772 is correct. The first record of the two appears to be the most likely but, of course, it may be that I have yet to find the right baptism record for the John Fordham who married Alice Pinder.
Alice died in 1766 at the age of 58 years and was buried on 8 June 1766 at All Hallows' Church in Tottenham[26]. This suggests that she was born in about 1708. If that is the case, she would have been about 25 when she married John. I have been unable to find a birth or baptism record for her.
If John and Alice were 63 and 58 respectively when they died, then their ages at the time of marrying one another on 15 April 1733 (24 and 25 respectively) would not have been a factor influencing their choice of an irregular marriage.
John and Alice had at least 8 children all of whom were baptised at All Hallows' Church in Tottenham. Alice was baptised on 07 July 1734 (18 July 1734)[27] [28]; Hannah was baptised on 30 November 1735 (11 December 1735)[29][30]; John was baptised on 23 January 1736/1737 (3 February 1737)[31][32]; Sarah was baptised on 15 May 1738 (26 May 1738)[33][34]; Luke John was baptised on 21 August 1743 (1 September 1743)[35][36]; Edward was baptised on 26 July 1746 (6 August 1746)[37][38]; Pinder was baptised on 3 April 1748 (14 May 1748)[39][40]; and Elizabeth baptised 22 April 1750 (3 May 1750)[41][42]. There may have been other children that I have, as yet, been unable to find. While most of John and Alice's children were born within a year or two of each other, there is a gap of 5 years between Sarah and Luke John. Was there a child in between?
It appears then that John and Alice, after their marriage at least, were parishioners of All Hallows' Church in Tottenham.
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| All Hallows' parish church, Church Lane, Tottenham, London N17, seen from the northwest [Photo: Alan Stanton CC BY-SA 2.0] |
Why Choose A Common Law Marriage?
It is likely that irregular marriages were popular for a variety of reasons. It has been suggested that key reasons include: Cost (they were usually cheaper than a parish church wedding); privacy; speed; parental consent was not required; secrecy; flexibility of dates (it was not uncommon for marriage certificates to be backdated to confirm legitimacy or secure an inheritance); to claim poor relief in a particular parish (in order to prove ‘settlement’ in a particular parish, some proof of marriage was often required); bigamy (before centralised records, a bigamous marriage performed without banns and outside the parish of bride and groom had a good chance of going undetected); and females escaping debt (if a single woman incurred debts and then got married, her debts would be transferred to her husband under the law)[43].
So, why did John and Alice choose to marry under Common Law at Fleet Prison? Age does not appear to have been a factor. Could speed have been a factor? Alice was born more than a year after John and Alice's marriage. Was there a child before Alice? Was 15 April 1733 really the actual date of their marriage? On the other hand, perhaps they just wanted a lower cost 'no fuss' wedding? ... Unfortunately, why John and Alice chose a Fleet marriage is likely something we will never know. It remains an open question.
Postscript
John and Alice are my 5th Great Grandparents. I descend via their daughter, Elizabeth.N.B. I have now moved by blogging efforts from this platform to We Are.xyz so that I can integrate building my family history archive with blogging. This post, or a similar version of it, can be found at: A Fleet Marriage - John and Alice
Notes
[1] When John and Alice married on 15 April 1733, England was still using the Julian calendar. The equivalent in the Gregorian calendar used today is 26 April 1733. See: Stephen P. Morse Converting between Julian and Gregorian Calendar in One Step [Webpage]. Accessed 25 June 2022.The Gregorian Calendar is the most widely used calendar in the world today. It replaced the Julian Calendar. The Julian Calendar had been introduced by Julius Caesar in 45BC. However, over time, it became more and more inaccurate because it did not properly reflect the actual time it takes the Earth to orbit once around the Sun. The Gregorian Calendar was named after Pope Gregory XIII. While introduced in 1582 as a replacement for the Julian Calendar, it was not immediately accepted by many countries. Time of acceptance varied from country to country. In fact, three centuries passed (from 1582 to 1927) until the Gregorian calendar had been adopted in all countries that previously had been using the Julian calendar. The United Kingdom and its colonies switched to the Gregorian calendar following an Act of Parliament in 1752. The change allowed for a realignment of events consistent with the astronomical calendar. It required a loss of 11 days. This meant that, 2 September 1752 advanced to 14 September 1752 with the 3rd to the 13th September 1752 skipped. In addition, recognition of the New Year in England and Wales moved from 25 March to 1 January (as was already the case in Scotland). See:
- Vigdis Hocken Gregorian Calendar, Julian Calendar, and Switch from Julian to Gregorian via timeanddate [Website]. Accessed 25 June 2022
- The Gregorian Calendar Adopted in England via HistoryToday [Website]. Accessed 26 June 2022.
[3] Registers of Clandestine Marriages and of Baptisms in the Fleet Prison, King's Bench Prison, the Mint and the May Fair Chapel. Records of the General Register Office, Government Social Survey Department, and Office of Population Censuses and Surveys, Registrar General (RG) series 7. The National Archives, Kew, England Image via Ancestry.com. London, England, Clandestine Marriage and Baptism Registers, 1667-1754 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013. Accessed 24 June 2016
[4] Cuthbert's register - Fleet register. 1730-1736 – National Archives RG 7/105 1730-1736 Transcript and Image via FindMyPast England Clandestine Marriages.
[6] Fleet Marriages from: FamilyHistory.co.uk [Website]. Accessed 26 June 2022.
[7] Fleet Marriages – See Note 6.
[8] Fleet Marriages – See Note 6.
[9] Fleet Marriages – See Note 6.
[7] Fleet Marriages – See Note 6.
[8] Fleet Marriages – See Note 6.
[9] Fleet Marriages – See Note 6.
[10] See About London, England, Clandestine Marriage and Baptism Registers, 1667-1754 Ancestry.com. Accessed 26 June 2022.
[11] Fleet Marriages from: FamilyHistory.co.uk [Website]. Accessed 26 June 2022.
[12] The Commission into Marriage Law, 1868 cited in the article Fleet Marriages from: FamilyHistory.co.uk [Website]. Accessed 26 June 2022.
[13] Fleet Marriages from: FamilyHistory.co.uk [Website]. Accessed 26 June 2022.
[14] Fleet Marriages - See Note 13.
[15] See About London, England, Clandestine Marriage and Baptism Registers, 1667-1754 Ancestry.com. Accessed 26 June 2022.
[17] John Southerden Burn, 1833, The Fleet Registers (pp.12-19) as referred to in Fleet Marriages from: FamilyHistory.co.uk [Website]. Accessed 26 June 2022.
[18] The Marriage Act 1753 ‘For the Better Preventing of Clandestine Marriage’, also known as Hardwicke’s Marriage Act, came into effect on 25 March 1754. The rules for a valid marriage in Church Law became a legal requirement for all marriages except where a specific exemption was made. There were exemptions for Jews and Quakers. This finally put an end to irregular marriages because the penalties for non-compliance were severe enough to ensure compliance. In effect, under the new legislation, a non-compliant marriage would be rendered void and the offending minister would be sentenced to 14 years’ transportation. The Act only applied to England and Wales which meant that those in search of an irregular marriage were still able to get one at Gretna Green in Scotland – See Fleet Marriages from: FamilyHistory.co.uk [Website]. Accessed 26 June 2022.
[19] Registers of Clandestine Marriages and of Baptisms in the Fleet Prison, King's Bench Prison, the Mint and the May Fair Chapel. Records of the General Register Office, Government Social Survey Department, and Office of Population Censuses and Surveys, Registrar General (RG) series 7. The National Archives, Kew, England Image via Ancestry.com. London, England, Clandestine Marriage and Baptism Registers, 1667-1754 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013. Accessed 24 June 2016
[20] London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; Reference Number: DRO/015/A/01/004 Image via Ancestry.com. London, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Accessed 25 June 2022.
[21] This assumes the date on the transcript is the original Julian Calendar date and not a converted one. If 22 April 1711 is the original Julian Calendar date then the converted date would be 3 May 1711. If 22 April 1711 is a converted date, then the original Julian Calendar date would have been 10 April 1711. See Note 1.
[22] England, Births and Christenings, 1538-1975. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013 Transcript via Ancestry.com. England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Accessed 25 June 2022. Also: England Births & Baptisms 1538-1975 Transcript via FindMyPast [Website]. Accessed 25 June 2022.
[24] London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; Reference umber: P69/DUN2/A/009/MS010349 image via Ancestry.com. London, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Accessed 25 June 2022. See also: England Births & Baptisms 1538-1975 Transcript via FindMyPast [Website]. Accessed 25 June 2022.
[26] London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; Reference Number: DRO/015/A/01/004 Image via Ancestry.com. London, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.
[27] 7 July 1734 (Julian Calendar) converts to 18 July 1734 (Gregorian Calendar). See: Stephen P. Morse Converting between Julian and Gregorian Calendar in One Step [Webpage]. Accessed 25 June 2022. See also Note 1.
[28] London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; Reference Number: DRO/015/A/01/004 Image via Ancestry.com. London, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.
[29] 30 November 1735 (Julian Calendar) converts to 11 December 1735 (Gregorian Calendar). See: Stephen P. Morse Converting between Julian and Gregorian Calendar in One Step [Webpage]. Accessed 25 June 2022. See also Note 1.
[30] London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; Reference Number: DRO/015/A/01/004 Image via Ancestry.com. London, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.
[31] For Julian calendar dates between 1 January and 25 March it is customary to double date them to show that when converted to the Gregorian calendar they would be a year later. 23 January 1736 (Julian Calendar) converts to 3 February 1737 (Gregorian Calendar). See: Stephen P. Morse Converting between Julian and Gregorian Calendar in One Step [Webpage]. Accessed 25 June 2022. See also Notes 1. And 10.
[32] London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; Reference Number: DRO/015/A/01/004 Image via Ancestry.com. London, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.
[33] 15 May 1738 (Julian Calendar) converts to 26 May 1738 (Gregorian Calendar). See: Stephen P. Morse Converting between Julian and Gregorian Calendar in One Step [Webpage]. Accessed 25 June 2022. See also Note 1.
[34] London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; Reference Number: DRO/015/A/01/004 Image via Ancestry.com. London, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.
[36] London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; Reference Number: DRO/015/A/01/004 Image via Ancestry.com. London, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.
[35] 21 August 1743 (Julian Calendar) converts to 1 September 1743 (Gregorian Calendar). See: Stephen P. Morse Converting between Julian and Gregorian Calendar in One Step [Webpage]. Accessed 25 June 2022. See also Note 1.
[37] 26 July 1746 (Julian Calendar) converts to 6 August 1746 (Gregorian Calendar). See: Stephen P. Morse Converting between Julian and Gregorian Calendar in One Step [Webpage]. Accessed 25 June 2022. See also Note 1.
[38] London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; Reference Number: DRO/015/A/01/004 Image via Ancestry.com. London, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.
[39] 3 April 1748 (Julian Calendar) converts to 14 May 1748 (Gregorian Calendar). See: Stephen P. Morse Converting between Julian and Gregorian Calendar in One Step [Webpage]. Accessed 25 June 2022. See also Note 1.
[40] London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; Reference Number: DRO/015/A/01/004 Image via Ancestry.com. London, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.
[42] London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; Reference Number: DRO/015/A/01/004 Image via Ancestry.com. London, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.
[43] Fleet Marriages from: FamilyHistory.co.uk [Website]. Accessed 26 June 2022.
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