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I have a Mary Gray and Samuel Taylor marrying as above....is anyone going to manchester Archives in Manchester Library who can kindly give me the details of ages ,occupations and fathers name please...................

The cert will have all the info you seek........ Name: Mary Gray Year of Registration: 1841 Quarter of Registration: Oct-Nov-Dec District: Manchester (1837-1924) County: Lancashire Volume: 20 Page: 367 Samuel Taylor Reg

Colin Can't help with the look up, but brace yourself for possible disappointment. Manchester Cathedral marriages rarely have any information other than the name of the couple. Manchester Cathedral is a 'peculiar' church and operated a 'no questions asked' marriage ceremony. It was therefore very popular with run aways, underage couples - and bigamists! People came from all over the county to marry at Man Cath, and sometimes even further afield. Let's hope yours is an exception! OC

Thank you Reggie....that is the one but I have just contacted Manchester Archives and they no longer offer a service were they send copies by post....only private researchers....... I need the information to check if it is the correct Samuel Taylor...he would have been around 16 years older than Mary... If no one is going I will arrange for the film to be sent to my local LDS place.......but hoping for a quicker method if anyone is going Cheers Colin

Thank you OC....I was not aware of that....but as you say, they must have come from all over the country as the people around Manchester are Good and Honest upright citizens

I have at least 2 sets of descendants married at Manchester Cathedral church and their marriage certificates are just like any other with their names, names of fathers, addresses, and witnesses - then again they were honest Northerners!

Oh yes, one lot even had Banns read, the other lot were married by licence.

Sorry - I didnt make myself clear, perhaps. The marriage registers rarely contain any information - but the CERTIFICATES, of course, do. Perhaps I have just been unlucky - my lot always had something to hide, which is why they married at Man Cath rather than their parish church. One cert I have for the 1840s, for a run away couple from Blackburn, lol, merely has 'deceased' written for fathers names - no names given. Both fathers were alive and kicking. OC

Hello Old Crone.....Blackburn...well that says it all.....I have family living in Rising Bridge ....so it must be something in the water My Samuel lived in Denton and the local church..St Lawrence did baptisms and burials but for a hundred year period were not able to perform marriages..............however I have looked at the baptisms at St. Lawrence for the correct period but Samuel did not use that church....so presently clutching at straws

Colin I'm puzzled by your comment that Manchester Archives no longer send by post....... The cert can be obtained direct from the GRO...........no need to involve Manchester........... What am I missing? Reg

Hello Reggie, I used to go to Manchester Archives on a regular basis....made copies of the certs that interested me etc....they also had a service that provided copies by post......but this ceased when the man that did it retired.....I now find it a bit more difficult to get up to Manchester but wanted a copy of the original cert to see if it the right Samuel...... I could apply to GRO and the Local registrars....or even request a copy of the film at my nearest LDS ...... However I was hoping that if anyone was visiting the Manchester Archives..... Cheers Colin

http://www.uksearch2003.co.uk/page3.htm A brief history of Manchester Cathedral appears at the above link. Marriage certificates from here after July 1837 are the same as any other church. In the 1820's and 30's when the Collegiate Church was at its busiest, quite often witnesses did not sign the church register and certain other irregularities may have occured. This was owing to the shear weight of numbers of events that took place in this church.Presumably the books that were sent to the Bishop must have been correctly signed or there would have been serious questions asked of Joshiah Brookes. This gentleman has the distinction of baptising, marrying and burying more people than any other cleric in the country. 'The Manchester Man' describes the chaotic scenes in the Collegiate & Parish Church of Manchester at a holiday time in the late 1820's. In 1847 the dioceses of Manchester was formed and thus the Collegiate & Parish Church of Manchester was elevated to Cathedral status. Ged

Ged I love the phrase 'certain other irregularities' lol. I have hearsay evidence that Man Cath practiced marriage by proxy, for at least some years in the early 1800s! OC

'The Manchester Man' would seem to confirm this theory but the book suggests that this was more by way of chaotic accident than malicious purpose. Ged

If anyone wants to read an extract from the book describing marriages at the Collegiate & Parish Church of Manchester please contact me privately and I will give you the link. Ged

Someone has actually put the first 16 Chapters of 'The Manchester Man ' online. Ged

Ged do you have a web address for that please? I read this book many years ago but have forgotten all except a few bits. Are you the Ged who my brother speaks of, I wonder. He hangs around in Manchester Library. OC

Possibly, but I don't have the time look and watch people. I guess that I must have clocked him sometime. I know many many people by sight and not by name. I'll send the link privately. The whole book is now available for down loading. Ged.