Marriage Banns

By Obsessed_Genie on Wed, 11/04/2026 - 00:01

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When a marriage takes place by banns, the banns are read on three consecutive Sundays in the parish church(s) where the bride- and groom-to-be live. Sometimes they are recorded together with the marriage record, and sometimes in a separate Banns Book.

When citing the banns, do you include the date of the first reading, the last reading, or all three readings? My feeling is that the first reading is sufficient, because that would indicate where in the banns book to find the entry. But I may be wrong.

What are other people's ideas?

Submitted byEEon Wed, 11/04/2026 - 08:52

Obsessed_Genie, as we do research, we need to separate two things:

  • First, there is the action or the event.
  • Second, there is the record of that action/event or the source in which we found it mentioned.

We handle those two things in two different ways:

  • In our narrative, we typically discuss those actions and events.
  • In our reference note, we cite the record or our source of information. Whatever dates we cite in our source note are dates needed to locate the source or to locate a specific piece of information within the source.

A book in which banns are recorded is simply another register of events. If we're using the original, it will be a book/register in manuscript form. If that register is paginated, our source note typically cites the page number, as we would for any book.  If that source is unpaginated but it has entry numbers, then we would cite those entry numbers as the where within locator.  If that source is unpaginated and does not have entry numbers, but entries are in chronological sequence, then we would say so and then cite the date of the entry as the locator by which we and others find that particular entry.