LIST 35 - MARRIAGES - CHRIST CHURCH NEWCASTLE

 
 
The first marriage was performed at Christ Church on the 18th February 1822 
by the Rev George Middleton. Up until the end of 1830 there were 120 marriages 
performed at Christ Church. On average about one marriage every month.
 
The information recorded for each marriage is as follows:
 date
 groom 
 family name
 Christian name
 year and ship of arrival
 civil status at time of marriage
 age at marriage
 bride 
 family name
 Christian name
 year and ship of arrival
 civil status at time of marriage
 age at marriage
 place of abode
 officiating minister
 reference number
 
The marriages are listed in chronological order.
 
In the original register the standard information recorded was; date, family 
name and Christian name of both bride and groom and the officiating minister. 
Information in the register but not included here includes; names of the 
witnesses to the marriage and who gave consent to the marriage (the father 
to colonial born brides and the governor to convicts). Interested readers 
are urged to consult the originals.
 
The marriage register from 1822 to 1825 recorded the civil status of the parties, 
their place of residence, and occasionally for serving convicts their ship 
of arrival. In the case of Elizabeth Hickey the register recorded that she 
was the daughter of John Hickey. 
 
The registers from 1826 regrettably are extremely faint and almost 
impossible to read which is a pity because some of the more interesting 
information, such as civil status, is difficult to decipher.
 
The Rev Middleton tended to record the civil status of the parties which 
is of immense assistance in helping to clearly identify them. The Rev Wilkinson 
did not and the only indication as to the civil status of the parties was 
whether they were married with "the consent of the Governor" (indicating 
that either one or both  was a convict) or with "the consent of friends" 
(indicating that they were free). The meaning of one of the civil status codes 
- FO or OF - has not been deciphered.
 
As explained above the age at marriage is a derived figure.
 
The Reverend George Augustus Middleton was the chaplain at Newcastle from 
1821 until his last recorded ceremony on the 11th June 1827. Then in July he 
was replaced by the Reverend Frederick Wilkinson. It is not recorded who 
performed the ceremony on the 23rd July 1827 just before Wilkinson commenced. 
The Reverend Scott performed one marriage on the 19th November 1828 and 
Reverend Charles P N Wilton one on the 10th February 1829 and had the good sense 
to record the ages of the parties.
 
The reference number would direct the reader to the entry in the original parish 
register. In this instance the numbers run from 0001 to 0025 at the end of 1825. 
As with all the churches in the colony, following Governor Brisbane's directive, 
Christ Church received a printed register in 1826 and like most other churches 
the numbering system of marriages reverted to "1".
 
One marriage in September 1823, one in August 1827 and two in November 1827 
were not assigned a reference number.
 
To locate an entry on this list; firstly an alphabetical search on the name 
would be made on Lists 27 or 28 using code "CCN" from which the date of marriage 
would be retrieved, secondly using the appropriate date, the marriage would 
then be located on this list.

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