LIST 3 - MARRIAGES - GROOMS NAME ORDER

 
 
There were 8,434 marriages recorded during this decade, which is over five 
thousand more than in the previous decade.
 
The information recorded for each marriage is as follows:
 date
 church
 groom 
 family name
 Christian name
 year and ship of arrival
 civil status at time of marriage
 age at marriage
 bride 
  family name
 Christian name
 year and ship of arrival
 civil status at time of marriage
 age at marriage
 
The marriages are listed in alphabetical order firstly on the name of the 
groom then secondly on the name of the bride.
 
A slash (/) after the family name indicates that the groom was a widower.
 
The ship of arrival (or date of birth) of only 4,424 grooms (53%) has been 
identified for this decade, with the arrival status of further 260 being known, 
bringing the percentage to 56%, the vast majority being convicts or former 
convicts. This greatly increased percentage of non identified grooms is a 
reflection on the increasing proportion of free persons arriving in the colony, 
who unlike their convicted counterparts are far less well documented 
in colonial records of the time.
 
Sometimes the marriage register records a ship of arrival but the name cannot 
be located on the relevant shipping indent. These are indicated by the absence 
of a year of arrival.
 
Sometimes the marriage register records the groom was native born but no 
collaborting evidence of the birth can be located. These are indicated by the 
absence of a year of birth.
 
With regard to the grooms, of the 4,684 (56%) whose arrival status has 
been found there were basically three groups; convicts (3,312 - 71%), 
colonial born (671 - 14%) and free arrivals (691 - 15%). 
 
The convict group can be further divided into: serving convicts; 1,823 (39%) 
and emancipated or pardoned convicts; 1,489 (32%). 
Amongst the colonial born there was one Aborigial. 
 
Of the free arrivals group; 416 (9%) were not further classified, 80 (2%) were 
chidren accompanying adults and the remained can be further defined as: naval, 
military and former military; 111 (2%); seafarers 62; chaplains 16, 
solicitors 6, surgeons 5, merchants 2, judges 1, surveryors 1. artists 1.
 
Of those whose arrival status is unknown very few would be serving convicts 
as they are relatively easily identifiable meaning the proportions of all 
other categories would almost certainly double.
 
There were 126 grooms who are described in the marriage register as a "free 
man". Unfortunately it is not certain whether this means free by arrival, 
servitude or birth. But in all probability most of these would be free by 
servitude.
 
There were 91 duplicate entries, these are marked with an asterix (*). The 
majority (80) were couples being remarried in the Catholic Church after 
a Protestant ceremony (50 to Anglicans, 11 to Presbyterians, 2 to 
Wesleyan-Methodists and 2 to Hebrews). 15 refer to first marriages before 1831. 
There were surprisingly five cases of a Presbyterian marriage following an 
Anglican one and one case of an Hebrew marriage after an Anglican one.
 
More difficult to explain and understand are the three couples who had two 
Anglican marriages (John Cook to Fanny Hamilton in 1840, Henry Stockford to 
Elizabeth Bowen in 1838 and John Supple to Mary Foster in 1839/40) and the 
two couples who had two Presbyterian marriages (Thomas Johnson to Elizabeth 
Gill in 1836 and Thomas Foster to Mary Ann Robinson in 1838/40).
 
Many parish registers only recorded the date of the marriage, the name of the 
groom, the name of the bride, the names of the witnesses and the name of 
the officiating minister. All other information for the marriage has been value 
added either from the shipping indents or the early musters. A hint of the civil 
status of the parties is revealed if the marriage was performed "with the 
consent of the Governor" which would indicate that at least one of the parties 
to the marriage was a serving convict or "with consent of parents" which would 
indicate that, usually the bride, was a minor and probably colonial born.
 
Whilst some parish registers began to record the age of the bride and groom, 
in most instances this is a computed figure from ages recorded on shipping 
indents, death records, census & muster details. Therefore they must be 
treated as an estimate at best. Only for the colonial born is it calculated 
from a known date of birth. 
 
The age of 56% of the grooms has been calculated, ranging from three colonial 
born lads of 17 years to Thomas Wright who claimed to be 94 years old. John Campbell 
is recorded as being 14 years old and Enoch Cobcroft as 15 years old when they
married but these surely must be errors.
 
The churches where the marriages took are listed in Table 3.1 below. The 
Church of England conducted 61% of the marriages, the Church of Scotland 20% 
and the Church of Rome 19%. This is a marked decline in the Anglican churches 
from 79% in the previous decade, reflecting firstly the increasing number 
of Catholic priests arriving in the colony this decade to cater to the needs 
of the Catholic community, secondly the popularity of the Presbyterian 
ministers who traditionally took a more liberal approach to granting consent 
to a marriage and thirdly to a much lesser extent the appearance in the colony 
of other Protestant sects such as Wesleyan-Methodists, Congregationalist 
and Baptists. There is one entry where no church is recorded. 
 
Added to the 8,326 marriages recorded in the above churches there were a further 
108 marriages in the State Archives Pioneer Series file whose entries could not 
be found in the nominated church. It is suspected that most of these are 
typographical errors relating to post 1840 marriages.
 
During this decade the number of Anglican churches and parishes increased from 
17 to 44, the Catholic from one to 16 and  the Presbyterian from two to 
21. Appendix II lists the equally dramatic increase in the number of 
chaplains, ministers and priests who arrived in the colony during this decade.
 
In 1826 Governor Brisbane issued a directive that all parishes of all 
denominations in the colony must submit a return at the end of each calendar 
year listing all births, deaths and marriages conducted during the previous 
twelve months. In true bureaucratic fashion he standardized the information 
which was to be furnished for each birth, death and marriage and supplied 
pre-printed forms on which to complete the information. The Catholics do not 
appear to have used them or if they did, they have not been micro-filmed.
 
In the case of marriages, regrettably for future genealogists and family 
historians most if not all genealogical information was excluded, information 
such as ship of arrival, age and civil status at the time of the marriage, 
which some of the chaplains were recording up till this time.
 
As might be expected these pre-printed forms became the standard in almost 
every parish as to what was recorded. What's more the only records microfilmed 
in the National Library after 1825 were the government returns not the original 
registers from which the information was gleaned. Being copies, they are 
subject to all the errors that transcription involves but not having 
the originals with which to compare the information makes identifying any errors 
difficult.
 
Nearly all the churches recommenced their reference numbering system in 
1826 to start at the number "1". Regrettably for many parishes (principally 
the smaller Catholic and Presbyterian parishes) the marriage register has 
not been located meaning that only the information recorded in the State 
Archive files is presented. As a result information such as the exact date 
of the marriage, parishes of the bride and groom, officiating minister are 
not listed and State Archive reference numbering system has had to be used. 
 
Almost as if to compensate for the sudden loss of genealogical information, 
to the great delight of researchers, Joan Reese & Norah Tuck have recorded, 
indexed, published (and typed!) the Convict Permission to Marry registers. 
These commence in 1826 and are of immeasurable assistance in identifying 
marriage participants with details of ship of arrival, age and civil status 
when the actual church records are so bereft of such details. The registers 
are available in microfiche form at the National Library in Canberra. They 
have been of immense assistance with the Church of Rome marriages in 
particular.
 
Similarly beneficial has been the work of Elizabeth Rushen & Perry McIntyre 
who have collected and published in series of books, the names and ships of 
all the women who were sponsored to the colony during the first single female 
assitance migration scheme which ran from 1833 to 1837. Significantly 
accounting the the greater proportion of brides identified compared to grooms.
 
Governor Darling upon his arrival forbade any two serving convicts from 
marrying, but as can be seen from these lists, this restriction was observed 
more in the breach.
 
In the year 1837 three churches reported no marriages: St Johns Wilberforce, 
St Thomas Sackville Reach, St James Pitt Town, all churches which were in the 
charge of Rev Matthew Meares, which tends to indicate that perhaps all 
the records from these churches has been misplaced or lost.
 
 Table 3.1. - Original Sources
 
 Anglican: 61.1%
 SPS 805 15.8%  9.6%
 SJS 749 14.7% 8.9%
 SJP 612 12.0% 7.6%
 SPEM 293 5.8% 3.5%
 HTK 254 5.0% 3.0%
 CCN 250  4.9% 3.0%
 ASSF 199 3.9% 2.4%
 SMW 169 3.3% 2.0%
 SJ-M 160 3.1% 1.9%
 SLS 146 2.9% 1.7%
 SLL  145 2.9% 1.7%
 SPCO 143 2.8% 1.7%
 STPM 130 2.6% 1.6%
 CCC 129 2.5% 1.5%
 SPC 124 2.4% 1.5%
  SPR 96 1.9% 1.2%
 SSG 92 1.8% 1.1%
 WOLL 66 1.3% 0.8%
 SAKP 61 1.2% 0.7%
 SMWM 59 1.2% 0.7%
  L-H 42 0.8% 0.5%
 SJPT 35 0.7% 0.4%
 SJW 38 0.7% 0.5%
 STSR 18 0.4% 0.2%
 Other 269 5.3% 3.3%
  Catholic: 18.5% 
 SMS 1187 77.0% 14.3%
 SPP 99 6.4% 1.2%
 SJMR 88 5.7% 1.1%
 SMWR 63 3.4% 0.6%
 Other 114 7.4% 1.4%
 Presbyterian: 19.6% 
 SKS 467 28.7% 5.6%
 SAKS 754 46.3% 9.0%
 MELB 69  4.2% 0.8%
 EKPH 58 3.5% 0.7%
 Other 281 17.3% 3.4%
 Wesleyan-Methodist: 0.3% 
 SYDW 8 33.3% 0.1%
 PARW  6 25.0% 0.7%
 WINW 3 12.5% 
 Other 7 29.2% 0.1%
 Hebrew: 0.5% 
 SYDH 40 97.6% 0.5%
  Other 1 2.4% 
 Other Denominations: 
 Other 3
 
 
 Table 3.2. - Church and Parish Codes
 
 AAC : Anglican Parish of Australian Agricultural Company  
 ABM : Anglican Parish of Arkstone; Burroowa; Merringo 
 ASSF : All Saints Sutton Forrest 
 BATW : Wesleyan Chapel Bathurst  
 BERR : Catholic Parish of Berrima  
 BHMS : Scots Kirk: Butterwick; Hinton; Middlehope; Seaham 
 BOWE : Scots Kirk: Bowenfels; Vale of Clwydd 
 BROU : Scots Kirk Broulee 
  BUNG : Anglican Parish of Bungonia 
 BWD : Anglican Parish of Burwood 
 BR-W : Anglican Parish of Brisbane Water 
  CANB : Anglican Parish of Canbury; Lake George; Queanbeyan 
 CCC : Christ Church Castlereagh 
 CCN : Christ Church Newcastle 
 DENB : Scots Kirk: Denbie; Hunter District; Maitland Morpeth; Paterson
 EKPH : Ebenezer Kirk Portland Head 
 ELDN : Anglican Parish of Dungog; Eldon; Raymond Terrace; Stroud; Uffington 
 GEEL : Scots Kirk Geelong Port Phillip District 
  GOUL : Catholic Parish of Goulburn 
 HOUG : Anglican Parish of Houghton  
 HTK : Holy Trinity Kelso 
 ILLA : Catholic Parish of: Illawarra; Wollongong 
  JBS : Scots Kirk: Jervis Bay; Shoalhaven  
 KIAM : Scots Kirk: Kiama; Illawarra District 
 L-H : Anglican Parish of Lower Hawkesbury
 MACD : Anglican Parish of MacDonald; Colo River 
 MBWM : Wesleyan Chapel Moreton Bay 
 MELB : Scots Kirk Melbourne Port Phillip District
 N-RT : Catholic Parish of: Newcastle; Raymond Terrace 
 NBUE : United Evangelical North Brisbane (Moreton Bay District) 
 NKIR : Catholic Parish at Norfolk Island  
 NK-I : Anglican Parish at Norfolk Island 
 P-HW : Wesleyan Chapel Portland Head 
  PARW : Wesleyan Chapel Parramatta 
 PENR : Anglican Parish of Penrith 
 PITT : Independent (Congretational) Pitt Street Sydeny 
 PM-H : Hebrew Temple Port Macquarie 
 PT-S : Holy Trinity Port Stephens 
 RAYT : Anglican Parish of Alnwick; Butterwick; Clarence Town; Middlehope; Raymond Terrace; Seaham
 SAKP : St Annes Kissing Point 
 SAKS : St Andrews Kirk Sydney 
 SAPM : St Andrews Kirk Port Macquarie
 SDH : St Davids Hobart, Van Diemens Land
 SF-M : St Francis Melbourne, Port Phillip District 
 SJC : St Johns: Camden; The Oaks; Picton; Stone Quarry 
  SJCR : St Johns Campbelltown - Roman Catholic 
 SJL : St Johns Launceston
 SJMB : St Johns: Brisbane; Moreton Bay 
 SJMc : St Josephs MacDonald River  
 SJMR : St Josephs Maitland 
 SJP : St Johns Parramatta 
 SJPT : St James Pitt Town 
 SJS : St James Sydney 
 SJSR : St James Sydney - Roman Catholic  
 SJW : St Johns Wilberforce 
 SJWO : St Johns: Oakville; Whittingham; Wollombi 
 SJ-M : St James Melbourne Port Phillip District
 SJ-S : Scots Kirk: Jervis Bay; Shoalhaven 
 SKB : Scots Kirk Bathurst 
 SKBG : Scots Kirk: Bungonia; Goulburn 
 SKP : St Andrews Kirk Parramatta  
 SKPS : Scots Kirk Pitt Street 
 SKS : Scots Kirk Sydney
 SKSI : St Andrews Kirk Singleton
 SKW : Scots Kirk Wollongong  
 SLKS : St Lawrences Kirk Sydney 
 SLL : St Lukes Liverpool 
 SLS : Christ Church St Laurence Sydney
 SLSC : St Lukes Scone  
 SMA : St Marks Appin 
 SMB : St Michaels: Bathurst; Kelso 
 SMKW : St Matthew's Kirk Windsor 
  SMMC : St Mary Magdalenes: Clydesdale; South Creek 
 SMS : Catholic St Marys Sydney 
 SMW : St Matthews Windsor 
 SMWR : St Mathews Windsor - Roman Catholic
 SNP : St Nicholas Penrith 
 SPC : St Peters Campbelltown 
 SPCO : St Pauls Cobbitty 
 SPCR : St Peters: Cooks River; Petersham  
 SPEM : St Peters East Maitland
 SPKC : St Peter's Kirk Campbelltown 
 SPP : St Patricks Parramatta 
 SPR : St Peters Richmond 
 SPS : St Phillips Sydney 
 SSG : St Saviours Goulburn
 STM : St Thomas Mulgoa 
 STPM : St Thomas Port Macquarie 
 STSR : St Thomas Sackville Reach 
 SYDH : Hebrew Temple Sydney 
 SYDW : Wesleyan Chapel Sydney 
 WHIT : Scots Kirk Whittingham 
 WINW : Wesleyan Chapel Windsor 
 WOLL : Anglican Parish of Dapto; Wollongong
 YASR : St Augustines Yass 
 YASS : Anglican Parish of Gundaroo; Gunning; Yass 

Proceed to Groom List

Return to 1831-1840

Return to Home Page

This work is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. Enquiries should be made to the publisher.