Christmas Weddings

Our latest Blogging challenge was to have a Christmas theme...so what could I write about? 

Something that came to mind was the number of December weddings we seemed to have so thought I'd provide a little snapshot of some of my ancestors who married at Christmas time. Many I've written about before so I have included a link to those earlier stories for more information. 

During the 18th and 19th centuries, getting married on Christmas Day itself was a popular tradition in Britain, with churches holding festive nuptials every 25 December.

Whilst it sounds romantic, Christmas weddings usually occurred out of necessity as Christmas and Boxing Day were often the only days of the year that young working-class couples were guaranteed to get off work.

In the 1800s, most people worked six days a week and didn't get paid when they didn't work. It was only with the rise of the trade unions in the 20th century that working conditions and employee rights started to improve and the tradition began to die out.

Weddings on December 25 are now virtually unheard of due to improved working conditions, less availability and an increase in the cost of venues, catering and staff during the festive season.

Helen Forrest McDougall and Robert Conway Martin - maternal grandparents

My grandparents, Helen Forrest McDougall and Robert Conway Martin were both born in Stevenston, Ayrshire, Scotland. I have previously written about them both and you can read more by clicking on their names. They had a family of four children when they immigrated to Australia in 1951 and their youngest child was born in Australia. Robert died at Merrylands in 1977, while Helen lived a further 20 years.

Caroline Anstey Garrett and Alexander Murray McDougall - maternal great grandparents

Caroline Anstey Garrett and Alexander Murray McDougall were both born in Glasgow, Scotland. They had 3 daughters. Alexander died in 1949 when he was just 63 years old. Caroline spent time living in Japan, Germany and the USA with her youngest daughter, but returned to Scotland and lived in Saltcoats with her sister, Lizzie for many years. When Lizzie died in 1977, she immigrated to Australia at the age of 90 where she lived her final 10 years with her daughters, Helen and Caroline.

Clara Lillian Phibbs and Arthur Samuel Rake - paternal great grandparents

 

Clara Lillian Phibbs and Arthur Samuel Rake were both born in England, Clara in Birmingham in 1889 and Arthur in London in 1885. They met onboard the Ballarat in February 1915 while immigrating to Australia. They married less than a year later and had four children. Sadly, Arthur died in Queensland during the depression in 1933. Clara married again in January 1942 to William Jones, however their marriage was annulled eight months later when William was convicted for bigamy. Despite this, they continued to live together until William's death in 1957.

Isabella Court and Benjamin Batey - paternal 2nd great grandmother (second marriage) 

Isabella Court was born in Newcastle and married her first husband, Robert Hails in 1881. They settled on the south coast and lived at Clifton and later Helensburgh and had seven children together. Robert died in 1895 after being hit by a train on the Helensburgh railway. Isabella and Benjamin had two children, but only one survived infancy. Isabella's second husband also met with an untimely death, being found dead on some scrub on the Helensburgh reserve at 7.30 a.m. on Monday morning, having been out in the rain and cold all night. A finding of death from exposure was recorded. 

Louisa Parkes and Thomas Martin - paternal 3rd great grandmother (third marriage)

Louisa Parkes was born in 1830 in Wolverhampton was just 32 years of age when she married her third husband, Thomas Martin. I am unsure what happened to her first husband, Joseph Stone whom she married in 1848, but she was described as a widow when she married my 3rd great grandfather, Paul Phibbs 4 years later in 1852.  Paul died just 9 years later in 1861 of heart disease. In 1867, at just 37 years of age, Louisa had outlived her three husbands, when Thomas also died of heart disease, less than 5 years after their marriage. Louisa had eight known children, two with her fist husband, Joseph Stone, three with Paul Phibbs and three with her third husband, Thomas Martin. With a young family to support, Louisa worked as a laundress and plain sewer until her family were able to take care of her.

Sarah Pope and Jeremiah Salisbury - paternal 3rd great grandparents

Sarah Pope was born in Wimblington, Cambridgeshire in 1821 and her husband, Jeremiah Salisbury in 1822 in Wavendon, Buckinghamshire. They had three children who all died in infancy before they immigrated to Australia. They departed from Plymouth on 17 December 1848 onboard the Midlothian arriving in Sydney on 8 April 1849. They settled initially at Stoney Creek, Jamberoo where seven children were born. After a run of bad luck, Jeremiah filed for bankruptcy in 1861 and the family relocated to Bulli where their youngest child was born. By 1896 they had relocated to Woonona. On 3 August 1901 Jeremiah and Sarah received the old age pension of 7s and 6d. Jeremiah died in 1905 and Sarah lived a further 9 years, they are buried together at the Presbyterian Cemetery, Woonona.

       

Acknowledgements

Find My Past Blog - Christmas Day Weddings

St Georges Church Birmingham - image