The Marriage Registers of Peak Forest Chapel, co. Derby
edited by George W. Marshall, LL.D (1901)
The Chapel at Peak Forest occupies a rather special place in
Derbyshire's history, being a place where marriages could take
place without being subjected to the usual conditions imposed
by the Established Church.
The vicar held a seal of office for approving Wills and issuing
Marriage Licences, the latter being bound by no conditions
other than his own. As a result of this legal “loophole”,
couples came from all over the country to be married, meanwhile
providing the Incumbent with what was presumably a
“nice little earner”... On average since the beginning of the
register of ‘Foreign Marriages’ in 1728, two couples a week
were entered, the practice ending in 1804, the register closing
with the following comment from the incumbent (my
favourite quote!):-
‘Here endeth the List of persons who came from different
Parishes in England and were married at Peak-forest. This
was a great privilege for the Minister, but being productive
probably of bad Consequencies was put a stop to by an Act of
Parliament.’ [Hugh Wolstenholm, July 1804]
Pages 61-72 provide a Surname Index - referenced
by page number in the original, but this has not been transcribed.
Pages 58-59 of the booklet The Calendar of
Wills proved in the Peculiar Court of Peak Forest for the period 1667-1831. These
are available separately.
Transcribed by Rosemary Lockie, April 1996.
Any references to, or quotations from, this material should also give credit to the original author.
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