The law governing marriages in England and Wales has a long and complex history and as family historians we need to at least understand the basics behind it all. Before 1754, other than for a brief period in the 1650s, the process was largely governed by a series of canons issued from the 14th century onwards by the ecclesiastical authorities.
Canon law
In 1603, an attempt to formally codify and clarify the existing canons – when 141 ‘Constitutions and Canons
Ecclesiastical’ were agreed at the Synod of London – included no fewer than nine that related directly to the question of marriage.
Canon 62, the most important as far as marriage practice was concerned, stated that:
No Minister upon Pain of Suspension ... shall celebrate Matrimony between any Persons, without a Faculty or License ... except the Banns of Matrimony have been first published ... in the Parish Churches or Chapels where the said Parties dwell, according to the Book of Common Prayer.
Valid... but irregular
The guidance was quite clear on this and on other
