Half-a-million marriage licences added to Findmypast
More than 536,000 marriage licences from 15 English counties have been digitised on findmypast.co.uk.
The original records were copied in volumes published by the College of Arms, Anguline Research Archives and Gould Genealogy, which have now been indexed by Findmypast. The earliest records in the collection date from 1115, while the latest date from 1906. They cover locations including London, Devon and Yorkshire.
Marriage licences waived the banns period necessary for a marriage to take place. They were obtained from the Church of England for a fee and with a sworn declaration that there were no legal impediments to the marriage.
If you find a marriage licence for your ancestors in the collection, you could potentially discover details such as where they lived, the date of the licence, the name of their intended spouse and their father’s name.
Among the records in the collection is the 27 January 1446 marriage licence for “Richard son of Sir John Beauchamp [knight] and Elizabeth Stafford, da. Of sir Humphrey Stafford [knight]” at Alcester, Warwickshire. As 2nd Baron Beauchamp, Richard went on to fight against Queen Margaret in the Wars of the Roses.