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| == General Information About the Records ==
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| The Durham collection represents allegations or applications made to the diocesan chancellor or surrogate. Application may also have been made to the Archbishop's of York or Canterbury as the two provinces within the Church of England. In the case of Canterbury allegations, the license issued was valid throughout England.
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| Two people made the allegation (application) to designated officers of either the diocesan chancellor or surrogate or the Archbishop’s of York or Canterbury. Bridegrooms may make an allegation or have two friends do so on their behalf. Each allegation requires two bondsmen who would stand as surety in case any impediment to marriage is later discovered. Underage spouses required parental consent as part of the allegation.
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| The licenses were issued to the bridegroom and have generally not survived; the allegations and bonds are found at the diocesan or record office and here, forming this collection.
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| Both the Canterbury Vicar-General's and Faculty Office records are held at the Lambeth Palace Library, the residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and can be seen by appointment with the librarian. Printed indexes of these were also published by the Harleian Society, and the Society of Genealogists also has a collection of abstracts and indexes and has published a guide to them.
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| These records were created as part of the ecclesiastical process of ensuring that no lawful impediment to marriage existed, that persons of other faiths required to marry in the Church of England had a system to do so, and that an alternative was offered to those who did wish public banns to be read. The license was normally obtained from the chancellor or surrogate of the diocese in which one of the parties lived and in which the marriage was intended to be celebrated, but application could be made to the Vicar-General of the Archbishop of the province. If the parties lived in different diocese, they had to apply to the Vicar-General. If they lived in different provinces they had to apply to the Master of Faculties of the Archbishop of Canterbury.
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| It was used by the marriage official as evidence that the bride and groom were eligible to be married.
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| The information included in a marriage allegation is sometimes unreliable; fictitious names are not unknown! Generally if the bridegroom and a friend made the allegation the information is reliable; in the case of application by two "friends" a need for a degree of caution may be indicated. It was often the case that families of nobility would have others would handle the license application on their behalf. The use of fictitious bondsmen names occurs, but usually the parties to the marriage are accurate secretive marriage was being sought for pregnancy or another reason.
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| The Allegation or Application is only an intention to marry and, just as a banns book entry may not result in actual marriage, does not imply actual marriage.
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| == Known Issues with This Collection == | | == Known Issues with This Collection == |