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The Dorset Marriage Index records can be searched by:
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| Status field - place of residence |
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Place of residence may appear in the Status field, especially for sojourners (see below). In many cases the place mentioned is the marriage parish, but sometimes another place may be mentioned in this field. For example: Status = 'lately residing in Swyre' Parish = 'South Petherton' We assume that this person is currently resident in South Petherton, having previously resided in Swyre. If the Status value is simply 'resident', or 'resident in parish' (or equivalent wording) the parish is assumed to be the marriage parish unless another place is mentioned in the Parish field. For example: Status = 'resident' Parish = 'Langton' or Status = 'resident here' Parish = 'Corfe Castle' In some cases it appears that the place mentioned in the Parish field is the place of origin of the person, with the current place of residence mentioned in the Status field. Example: Status = 'cordwainer, residing at Chideoke' Parish = 'Stoke Damerel, Devon' |
| Sojourner |
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A sojourner is someone who is temporarily resident in a place. In most cases the sojourn is in the parish of the marriage, and the entry will say, for example, 'sojourner of this parish', 'sojourner in this parish', or simply 'sojourner'. In a few cases another parish may be stated, eg 'sojourner at Mannington', 'sojourner in Corfe Mullen'.
If the actual place where the party comes from is mentioned, this will usually be shown in the Parish & County fields, even though the person is a sojourner in the parish of the marriage. In such cases the Status field will indicate that the person is a sojourner, eg: Status = 'sojourner of this parish', Male Parish = 'Llandaff in Glamorgan' |
| Peculiar Court entries |
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There are a series of entries for the Peculiar Courts of Corfe Castle, Gillingham, Wimborne Minster and the Dean & Chapter of Sarum. In all these cases the entries refer to 'Marriage by licence only' - which text appears in the Notes field.
In these cases the parish where the marriage took place is not shown. Nor can it be certain that the marriage actually did take place, since these entries refer to the licence itself rather than a marriage which took place by licence (in that case the Register would have been of the place the marriage took place and not that of the court which issued the licence - there are many such entries). For the peculiars of Corfe Castle, Gillingham and Wimborne Minster it is likely that the marriage, if it did take place, took place in the place mentioned (ie Corfe Castle, Gillingham or Wimborne Minster, respectively). The Peculiar Court of the Dean & Chapter Sarum (Salisbury, Wiltshire) covered 27 Dorset parishes - Alton Pancras, Anderston, Bere Hackett, Bere Regis with Winterborne Kingston, Bloxworth, Candlemarsh, Castletown, Charminster, Folke, Haydon, Hermitage, Holnest, Lillington, Long Burton, Mapperton, Nether Compton, North Wootton, Oborne, Over Compton, Ryme Intrinsica, Sherborne, Stockwood, Stratton, Thornford, Turner's Puddle & Winterborne Thompson - as well as The Close, Salisbury, 8 Wiltshire parishes (Baydon, Heytesbury, Hill Deverill, Horningsham, Knook, Mere, Ramsbury and Swallowcliffe) and 7 Berkshire parishes (Arborfield, Blewbury, Hurst, Ruscombe, Sandhurst, Sonning & Wokingham, with the Chapels of Upton and Aston Upthorpe). So for the entries for the Sarum court, in principle we can't even be sure that the marriage took place in Dorset; in practice, the four records for this court which are present probably all refer to marriages in Stourpaine. As far as we are aware these are all the marriage licences issued by this court which still exist for Dorset. |
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| See also: | About Dorset Marriage Index |
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