Intent to Marry

Learning About Marriage Banns 

Banns of Marriage for John Schofield and Hannah Fox, cropped 
Manchester, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1930 at Ancestry.com

John Schofield and Hannah Fox Intend To Wed

As you can see, the bann (an announcement of an upcoming marriage) is thrice announced from the pulpit on three consecutive Sundays. In this case: 27 January, 3 February, and 10 February 1782.

St. Chad's

Photo by David Barton, Flickr
 non-commercial, attribution, share-alike license, 4 Mar 2014. Link to license

The best part of this record is that I now know this was announced in the Chapel of Saddleworth (Saddleworth, St Chad, Yorkshire, England) and that Hannah Fox (whose parents are unknown to me) was from Bourkhouse and John from Ralphs.

David Barton, photographer, is helping me understand the location of Saddleworth through maps and his photos. He had located Bourkhouse (Bowk House) and Ralphs on both old and recent maps. Both are found in the village of Denshaw in Saddleworth. 

In this case, geography matters because Saddleworth which was in Yorkshire when John and his brother Arthur left for America, is is now part of Greater Manchester. (Family Search Help) 

Yes, there is an area nearby set off for gravestones (upper graveyard) and was cleared in 2003 of brush and debris. (Photo) I wish I could see the gravestones!

The church (since 1215 AD) where the marriage took place is majestic, still standing and is well photographed. I would expect that they married in the Chapel and not in the huge section reserved for worship.

Another interesting thing is that I have decided that this family remained members of the Church of England (Anglican) and joined Episcopal churches in New England whenever they could.

Source: Ancestry.com. Manchester, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1930 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013.

Original data: Anglican Parish Registers. Manchester, England: Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives. Images produced by permission of Manchester City Council. Images may be used only for the purposes of the family history research in accordance with Ancestry’s website terms of use. At the request of the Manchester Diocese it is highlighted that the use of images for retrospective or proxy baptism is not permitted.