Caldecote and Bourn Banns Online

Having spent some time going through the parish records for Caldecote and Bourn in Cambridgeshire, I noticed that a few of the marriages had a note in them that the couple were married by banns.  I've never looked at, or looked into lists of banns, so I am now looking at where I can see the banns online, or on CDs.  I'm sure the Cambridgeshire Family History Society have probably transcribed the banns and sell them on a CD, but first I looked online.

Findmypast seems to have a simple way to search through the banns and so I looked - to discover that neither Caldecote nor Bourn are currently online at Findmypast.  I looked to see which Cambridgeshire parishes are on FMP at present and the list is:

Abington Pigotts, Arrington, Bartlow, Benwick, Bottisham, Boxworth, Brinkley, Burrough Green, Burwell, Cambridge, All Saints, Cambridge, Holy Trinity, Cambridge, St Andrew The Less, Cambridge, St Barnabas, Cambridge, St Clement, Cambridge, St Edward, Cambridge, St Paul, Cambridge, St Philip, Carlton, Castle Camps, Chatteris, Cherry Hinton, Chippenham, Conington, Cottenham, Downham, Dry Drayton, Dullingham, East Hatley, Elsworth, Ely, Holy Trinity, Ely, St Mary, Fen Drayton, Girton, Grantchester, Great Abington, Great Eversden, Guilden Morden, Hardwick, Harlton, Hinxton, Histon, Horseheath, Ickleton, Isleham, Landbeach, Linton, Little Abington, Little Shelford, Lolworth, Madingley, Manea, March, Newton Near Cambridge, Papworth Everard, Papworth St Agnes, Rampton, Sawston, Shudy Camps, Stuntney, Swaffham Prior, St Mary, Swavesey, Thriplow, Trumpington, Tydd St Giles, Upwell, Christchurch, Waterbeach, Welney, Wentworth, West Wickham, West Wratting, Westley Waterless, Whaddon, Witchford, Wood Ditton

However, although they don't (at the time of writing) have the parishes I was after, I have spotted a couple of parishes of potential interest in that list!  So all is not lost as I can use those to search for other marriages I was looking for.

What Are Banns?

When you marry at your leisure, banns are read out in your local church on three consecutive Sundays during the church service - giving people, who probably knew you, the chance to object to the marriage if they have any valid and legal reason why you shouldn't be married.  e.g. if they knew you'd already married elsewhere, or some other reason.  As a rule it tends to be just part of the process and, to date, I've never heard of a wedding being halted as somebody did come forward.  I'm sure it must have happened to somebody somewhere .... but it's not common.  Banns can be read at more than one church if you married away from your usual place of abode, so if you discover two sets, don't be surprised.

Cambridge Banns Online at Findmypast

There were 28,364 banns listed in the Cambridge parishes at Findmypast.  I had a quick look through for the main family names I'm interested in in the area, but nobody I was after appeared in the lists.  I searched for two surnames and got 11 results for one and 8 for the other.

Ely Holy Trinity Banns Online at Findmypast

Surprisingly, when I checked this list for one surname of interest it gave me 112 marriages by banns at the church, ranging between 1755 and 1878.  I am interested in proving/disproving a marriage there in 1830 so further refined the list down to first name/surname at Ely Holy Trinity and that one is listed, so I've bookmarked it for next time I am a member of Findmypast.  I keep a free account on FMP and bookmark those I am interested in until either a free weekend, or a one-month pass, which is just £9.95.  It's not worth paying to look at one entry, which is why I bookmark them!

After this I ran out of time for today! So I'll have to continue looking for the banns at Caldecote and Bourn another day, later in the week.

Image CC 3.0