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North Wales/Wrexham marriage records

By stewpot1944 |
General Genealogy

Two of my ancestors , George Lloyd and Mary Rogers, were married in Wrexham on December 31st 1833. 

Theirs and the adjacent records I have looked at say "married .... with consent of Friends". Does anyone know anything about this form of consent? Was it unique to Wales?

Occasionally, if the Bride or Groom was patently under age but had had no surviving parents, then the specific consent of a Guardian would be sought.  If there was no Guardian as such, perhaps  because the person was poor or an Orphan, then the general approbation of the Parish Overseers, and of the friends of the couple was deemed sufficient.

All the Vicar or Officiating Minister had to know was that there were no objections to this marriage.  

 

I have checked through the 175 pages of this particular record set and, from a random selection, it appears that every single one is "with consent of Friends". In a similar set for Ruabon, the entry "with the consent of" is left blank throughout. It makes me think it may be just the way the local clergyman decided to complete the registration.

I suspect it means the Banns were read and no objection was made to the marriage. Whoever makes the recording decides what they think fit to include, reason it differs from parish to parish.