Document Request: The 1806 marriage of William Ada and Jane Mary Jeffress
Document Description: Analysis by Tim Richardson of the marriage registration and licence issued on behalf of the Archbishop of Canterbury
Transcription URL: https://ada.surnametree.com/library/vdocs/D_83#83
Document Transcription:THE 1806 MARRIAGE OF WILLIAM ADA AND JANE MARY JEFFRESS
Much can be gleaned from an apparently normal marriage certificate if looked at in detail.
The following register in the records of St Paul Canterbury for 1806:
No 187 William Ada a Batchelor of this Parish and Jane Mary
Jeffress a Spinster of this Parish were
Married in this Church by Licence
This Second Day of March in the Year One Thousand eight Hundred
and Six By me Tho. Freeman Vicar
This Marriage was solemnized between Us William Ada
Jane Jeffress
In the Presence of Paul Jeferess
X the mark of Sarah Jeffreys
This marriage certificate was discovered by my fourth cousin Phil a couple of years ago - despite not being a descendant of this branch of the family - and I then realised that the church was a few minutes’ walk from my new home in Canterbury. As a copy of the marriage certificate was in the archives of Canterbury Cathedral, I booked a visit and told them what I was researching.
The Archives of Canterbury Cathedral are worth a visit, it is a beautiful library and the staff clearly love the work they do. Daniel had set up the microfilm for my arrival and upon showing me the certificate above made an observation:- married by Licence.
Daniel explained to me that in 1806 you would normally be married by Banns, an archaic but sound tradition whereby each of the three weeks before, the impending marriage would be announced in the parishes of each of the couple, as a way of discovering whether they already had some relationships they were keeping quiet about.
Marriage by Licence was something else - a way of avoiding the Banns. So this is interesting from a family research perspective, moreover the Licence itself can provide further information.
So here is the licence itself with comments following:
Licence to marry
Know all Men by these Presents that we William Ada of Saint Paul in the City of Canterbury Officer in the Excise
And John Doe of the same place Gentleman
Are held and firmly bound to the most Reverend father in God
Charles by Divine Providence Lord Archbishop of Canterbury primate of All England and Metropolitans
In two hundred pounds of lawful Money of Great Britain to be paid to the said
Lord Archbishop or his [certain] Attorney Executors, Administrators or [Assignees] for the true payment whereof.
We bind ourselves and each _ _ _ of us by himself for the whole and every part thereof and the [Heirs] [Coventers] and Administrators of [us] and each _ _ _ of us firmly by their [Presents] Sealed with our Seals Dated the first
Day of March in the Forty sixth Year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord George the Third
By the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland King Defender of the Faith &c and in the Year of our Lord One Thousand and Eight Hundred and six.
The Condition of this Obligation is such That if hereafter there shall not appear any lawful Let or Impediment by reason of any Pre Contract entered into before the twenty-fifth Day of March One Thousand and Seven Hundred and fifty four, Consanguinity, Affinity or by any other lawful Means whatsoever, but that the above bounden William Ada a Batchelor aged thirty years and Jane Mary Jeffreys a Spinster aged Twenty five years both of Saint Paul aforesaid _ _ _
may lawfully solemnize Marriage together together, and in the same afterwards laws fully remain and continue for Man and Wife according unto the laws in that behalf provided. And moreover if there be not at this present Time any Action Suit Quarrel or Demand moved or depending before any Judge Ecclesiastical or Temporal for or concerning any such lawful Impediment between the said Parties nor that either of them be of any other Parish or of [better Estate] or Degree than to the Judge at granting of the Licence [he suggested] and by William Ada _ _ _ [sivern to]
And lastly if the same Marriage shall be openly solemnized in the Church or Chapel in the licence specified between the Hours appointed in the [Constitutions Ecclesiastical] confirmed and according to the [Term] of the Book of Common Prayer now by Law established. And if the above bounden William Ada [do some harm leps] the said Arch his Commissary _ _ his Surrogates and others his Office [is] whatsoever [lop] Reason of the [Piritons] Then this Obligation to be void or else to remain in full force and Virtue.
Sealed and delivered
In the Presence of
[ signed ] William Ada
CANTERBURY DIOCESE
March 1st. 1806
Appeared Personally William Ada _ _ _ _ _
And made Oath that he is of the Parish of Saint Paul _ _ _
In the City and Diocese of Canterbury, Officer in the Excise
And a Batchelor of the age of thirty years
And intended to marry with Jane Mary Jeffreys
Of the Parish of Saint Paul aforesaid
A Spinster aged twenty five years
_ _ _ _ _ _
And that he knoweth of no lawful Let or Impediment by reason of any Precontract entered into before the 25th Day of March 1754, Consanguinity, Affinity or by any other llegal cause whatsoever, to hinder the said intended Marriage; and that he prays a License, to solemnize the said Marriage, in the Parish Church of Saint Paul _ _ _
Hath had her usual Place of Abode for the Space of four Weeks left past.
[signed] William Ada
The same Day the said _
William Ada __ __ __ was
Sworn before me.
[signed] Joshua Dix Surrogate
So what we can surmise from the above is that something is going on.
The Licence was granted by no less than the Archbishop of Canterbury. Given that the Parish Church of Saint Paul is about 200m from Canterbury Cathedral, that might make sense. The Archbishop did not issue the Licence himself, this was delegated to the Clerk of Precincts.
William Ada, who at the time held an important position as Hop Supervisor in the Canterbury Collection of Customs and Excise, was bound to pay a fine of £200 if the marriage turned out to be invalid in any way. This was a serious amount of money, possibly several times his annual salary. If William did not or could not pay, then the fine would be levied on his guarantor, who in this case was John Doe, a Gentleman. It is likely that John Doe was - even then - a fictional artifice, perhaps William could not or did not wish to involve anyone else.
And they got married only a week after the Licence was issued, which might indicate a shotgun wedding. The marriage was conducted by the Rev Thomas Freeman, the vicar of Saint Paul, and it was witnessed by Jane’s brother Paul and her mother (or sister) Sarah. Jane’s surname appears to have confused the 81-year-old vicar as each of the three have the surname spelt differently (Jeffress, Jeferes and Jeffreys).
So, shotgun wedding? Check the date of birth of the first child.
Jane Ada’s birth certificate is not archived anywhere, however on her gravestone in Brompton Cemetery it is engraved that she was born in April 1806, a month after their marriage.
So it all adds up.
Tim Richardson
June 2022
Return to Library