Search Cardiganshire Marriages and Banns

Banns

Each record comprises a transcript and black and white image of the original register. The amount of information listed varies, but the records usually include a combination of the following information about your ancestor:

• First name(s)
• Last name
• Spouse’s first name(s)
• Spouse’s last name
• Banns year
• Banns date
• Marriage year
• Marriage date
• Parish
• Spouse’s parish
• Place
• County
• Country

Image

The image may provide additional details, including:

• Marital status
• Spouse’s marital status
• Dates of three banns
• Officiating minister

Marriages

Transcript

Each record comprises a transcript and black and white image of the original register. The amount of information listed varies, but the records usually include a combination of the following information about your ancestor:

• First name(s)
• Last name
• Spouse’s first name(s)
• Spouse’s last name
• Bride’s father’s first name(s)
• Bride’s father’s last name
• Groom’s father’s first name(s)
• Groom’s father’s last name
• Bride’s age
• Groom’s age
• Marriage year
• Marriage date
• Banns year
• Banns date
• Bride’s parish
• Groom’s parish
• Parish
• County
• Country

Image

The image may contain further details, including:

• Bride’s marital status
• Groom’s marital status
• Bride’s residence
• Groom’s residence
• Bride’s occupation
• Groom’s occupation
• Witness names
• Officiating minister
• Marriage by banns or licence

Note that an ‘X’ followed by the words ‘her mark’ or ‘his mark’ indicate that the person signing the register was unable to read or write.

Cardiganshire

The historic county of Cardiganshire in West Wales was formed in 1282 in the former Kingdom of Ceredigion. The historic county was abolished in 1974 and reformed in 1996 as Ceredigion, with mostly the same boundaries. The county is bordered by Gwynedd, Powys, Carmarthenshire, and Pembrokeshire. Cardigan is the historical county town, but today, Aberystwyth and Aberaeron are the two administrative towns.

Banns

An ancient legal tradition, banns are an announcement in church of a couple’s intention to marry. The reading of the banns provides an opportunity for anybody to put forward a reason why the marriage may not lawfully take place. Banns must be read in the parish (or parishes) in which the couple lives and in the parish they will marry, on three Sundays in the three months before the wedding, unless the couple got a licence. It’s important to note that banns only state an intention to marry; the posting of the banns doesn’t necessarily mean the marriage took place.

Marriages

Marriage records are an essential part of researching your family history. There are records where the parents of the bride and groom are listed, and these are often the key to finding out the names of the generation before.

Occasionally, ages of the couple may be listed as "full" or “of age” rather than as a figure. This was a customary way of noting that they were over the required age of 21. If the bride or groom was under the age of 21, “with consent of parents” is noted in the record.