Genealogy Chat

Whilst researching my family tree i have recently recieved a couple of church marriage certificates (1913 and 1915) where the ceremony was performed on December 25th ! Surely, churches would be too busy to deal with marriage ceremonies on Christmas Day unless of course there is something unusual from a legal/financial point of view of getting married on Christmas Day. Anybody got any ideas ? Thanks for your all replies. i suspected it had something to do with cost !

The reason being that a lot of marriages were performed on Xmas day, was because usually, this was the only day that they had off throughout the year in those days... remember Dickens Christmas Carol? Anne :)))

My aunt and uncle married on Christmas Day in 1937. :-) Joy

My Mum & Dad were married on Christmas Day 1929 Shirley

I had heard that the reason why people got married on Christmas day was because it was free

I too have found out that one set of my relatives were also married on Christmas Day. It seems it was quite common then! Imagine nowadays rushing around and getting the turkey cooked whilst trying to get ready then all down the church after lunch for the wedding! Jan

I have christamas eve and christmas day marriages in my tree. There are other holidays that they seemed to take advantage of too. I guess it was the only way to be off work and not cost you any money - I can't imagine holiday pay in those days. Pippa

Me too - quite a few of mine were married Christmas Day, Boxing Day or New Years Day. Debby

I have a couple of Christmas day marriages in my tree. Of course, the church service doesn't have to take long - the actual marriage bit is just the taking of vows, and the legal bit completing the certificate. As for the rest of Christmas day - churches generally have maybe midnight mass, then a morning service and perhaps one later on - the wedding could slot in between these, or perhaps be part of general morning service. nell

I discovered a few Christmas Day marriages in the tree and thought - how romantic - until I realised it was their only day off!

I have a few too. I suppose it was a good time all round as they had the day off, the church would be all decorated and the congregation in place anyway! Plus I expect there was some sort of eats laid out by the village squire for christmas celebrations so that would have been a nice little wedding day do for them.

When I first started doing this, I was dead impressed to find that my 2 x Gts had married in Manchester Cathedral on Xmas Day. Turns out though, it was free on Xmas Day (and also on other Saints Days) and in 1861 no less than 250 marriages were performed on Xmas Day in Manchester Cathedral - they literally queued up the Aisle! Marjorie

The other really popular dates for marriages, especially for agricultural labourers, were in October. Virtually all my ancestors prior to civil registration marry in October. The reason? The poor would gain settlement in a village if they worked there for over a year. To ensure that the rate-payers were not responsible for a bunch of unknown paupers, young men and women were hired for just under a year. At Michaelmas there would be great hiring fairs, which enabled them to gain employment for the following year. Once the young couple were happy that they had acquired enough skill and enough savings to set up house together, then at the end of their term of employment they would have the banns called, ready to marry in October. (This of course excludes those ancestors who didn't do their planning quite carefully enough and had to marry a little earlier!) B

My Mum and Dad married on Christmas Day, 1936. Then Dad and his brothers went off to watch Arsenal play. Jean x.

Lol, Jean! I would have kiled him if he were mine!!! Fascinating thread. I just thought it was all coincidence!!

A totally useless point.............One of the biggest ratings boosters for the soaps is a Christmas day wedding. You have to bear in mind that weddings for the working classes were totally different 150 years or so ago, compared with what is expected today. Mandy

I've just transcribed some marriages for my local FHS and found quite a few on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Years Day. October and April seemed popular too. Lisa