Making and breaking a marriage.

If you’ve already explored civil registration indexes and Church of England parish registers, this engaging talk with Else Churchill will take your research to the next level.

Focusing on the theme of “making and breaking a marriage,” Else will reveal how to go beyond the familiar sources and unlock the full potential of marriage and divorce records from 1538 through to the modern era. Discover how changes introduced by the 1753 Hardwicke Act and the 1836 Marriage Act shaped records and how you should use this knowledge to your advantage. 

The session will introduce a wider range of invaluable sources including banns books, marriage licences, bonds and allegations, and marriage settlement agreements; helping you add depth and detail to your family history. You’ll also gain insight into less commonly used material with examples from Jewish and Quaker records alongside Church of England sources.

Else will guide you through the often-overlooked world of marital breakdown, from church court separations and rare parliamentary divorces before 1858 to the development of civil divorce records thereafter - opening up new avenues for research into your ancestors’ lives.

This talk will equip you with the tools and confidence to dig deeper, uncover hidden stories, and make the most of records you may have thought you already knew 

• You can attend in-person at our Resource Hub in London where the presenter will be live or watch online via Zoom. The option to choose either online or in-person appears before checkout
• £15 to attend this event
• Join Gold for £15 to attend this event, access a recording, get free tickets to all other Gold talks AND catch up on 200+ previously recorded session
• Not a Gold Member yet? Existing members upgrade here. Non-members, find out more about Gold here. 

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