Genealogy Chat

what amazing stories, I knew my Dad used to sing in Pubs and recently found out my Mum used to sneak out of the House to listen to him ,her Mother was against the marriage and she was proved right , he was hateful.So it doesnt always work out well.

Hi I found my gt. gt. gt. grandparents living in the same house as boarders on the 1881 census - not long before they married, so I assume they met there. But I came across the information purely by accident!! I've also got one lad marrying a woman with the same surname as his mother, I'm sure she's his cousin. M

My grandfather was born in India to Irish parents Became a soldier got married in Guernsey to my Gran whose family had lived there for centuries..Their first child was born2 weeks before they got married and all the births of the others are approx 9mths after he had been there on leave. In 1907 he brought his family of 8 children the youngest was abt 3mths old to live in Lancashire My parents met at infant school just after my dad had arrived from Guernsey. They married 26 years later. Bren

I came to Canada from Australia to be a nanny for 10 months in 1980......and met my boss's brother!!! So the children I was nanny to are now my nieces.

I met my husband in my local pub - he was standing on the table at the time! My parents went to the same school. My grandparents met at church. My husband's great grandparents met over the garden wall. His Dad lived next door but one to her oldest brother. If only I'd done as I was told and checked the neighbours when I was checking the census entries for one family, I would have found the other two years before I did! Sheila

My mum was only 15 when she met my dad. She had stopped to watch a ceremony at the Scandanavian Church in Bermondsey - I think the King of Denmark or something was visiting it. She and her friend leant their bikes up against the railings but mums bike slid to the ground. Dad was standing with a group of mates (he was rough trade for her!) and he went to walk forward to pick up the bike and his mates shouted, 'Leave It' (they thought mum was a bit posh). Dad ignored them, picked up the bike and handed it to mum. She said (oh the times dad told me this!) 'Thank you. Its nice to see there are still some gentlemen left in this area'. And that was it. He married her 4 years later.

I have the letter that led to my grandparents meeting. Grandad's wife died and he wrote to her friends, one of whom was my gran (he didn't even know her surname). Gran took pity on him, and I have the letters they wrote during their courtship - she lived near Petersfield and he lived & worked in Southampton. Believe me, these letters are a little steamy!!!!! Grans parents met when he had left his wife in London and moved to Bournemouth. She had moved from Suffolk to Bournemouth and her parents in Suffolk suddenly ended up with an infant in the 1891 census! (possible illegitimate child involved in the move!!) They moved to Southampton together and married 25 years later (when g grandads first wife died, and 9 children had been born)!. My mum met my dad when he made a phone call - mum was a 'hello girl' in the late 1940' s. Dad liked her voice, he arranged a date, and they were married when she was 17!! maggie

Ozibird I do believe in fate sometimes , what a lovely story. off to bed now goodnight

I met my Husband at work ,my sister met hers through me he worked there too.

My mum and dad met at her 21st birthday, some friends took my dad along introduced him to my mum and there ya go!!! my mums parents met cos i think he worked in a garden centre next to where she worked. mums ,dads parents met when she went to warwickshire in service, her hubby to be lived in warwickshire

My parents met at a dance during the War - Dad was posted to Scotland. My Grandparents were neighbours and went to the same Church. My Gt Grandfather and his two brothers married three girls who were friends. Another GGF married a cousin. GGF x 2 mostly married cousins from the same village. Olde Crone

I've several instances of people who are married on one census, and on the previous census, one is lodger in the other's house. I also have gt gt grandparents who were both in service. I assume that they were either working in the same household and thus met, or they had the same afternoon off and met elsewhere. My mum and dad met on the bus, as he was a bus conductor and she a passenger. She was introduced by a mutual friend, Mary. Mum and Mary were coming back from a Prom concert and Mum and Dad got into a heated discussion about classical music. Dad invited her out to continue the discussion. nell

Just back from Dinner yummy. what fascinating stories, I know one of mine was a Gentlemans Coach Driver and his Wife also worked for him, so thats how they met, but often wonder about their first meeting what they looked like as I have been unable to find any Photos for them yet, so am trying to find others in the family who hopefully have more knowledge about them.

My Mum & Dad were next door neighbours, But, had mums family never migrated from Essex side of the Thames to SE London then doubt they would never have met. Que Sera Sera. Shirley

This is where a census can also give you a clue. My 3x g.grandmother's parents owned the pub just down the road from where my 3x g.grandfather lived. I expect he met her in there. I can picture her working behind the bar and serving him with his pint of ale.

this is something that fascinates me too. I suppose these days we take it for granted that a lot comes about by chance meetings. Its also something you can easily miss if you only look at your direct line. Once you learn more about your respective ancestors families, a lot of it becomes more obvious. In circles where there were assets such as land or property to be kept within the family, it was far more usual for cousins to marry. It puzzled me for a long time why a soldier would marry - in India -a coalminer's daughter from Gateshead. There was actually a family connection. One day she was visiting her uncle & met his wife's younger brother, who was also visiting during a period of leave from the army... The marriage was arranged & the rest (as they say) is history... I would never have known about this family connection if I hadn't been looking at the rest of their respective families. My Gt Gran from Somerset married the parish clerk in a North Kent village. Like many others, her family moved to London in the 1850's on the promise of a better life with more opportunities for work. Like many other young girls, she was in service prior to her marriage. I still can't imagine exactly how & where they met, but it was a start knowing her family were settled in London at least 10 years earlier. As far as ag labs are concerned, the Hiring Fairs were not just used as a means to find work! The next village was just as useful as a source of a prospective bride as a new employer.

I do know some....... Mum met dad through a dating agency! Gran met granddad on a railway station in WW1. He had both arms in plaster having been injured on the first day of the battle of the Somme. She said ''from the back I knew he would be good looking when he turned around''.......she was right!! Pity they didn't get on! Other granny pulled a pint for granddad in her father's pub. He spent the rest of his life sitting by the bar and she spent hers bringing up 14 children and running their shop. One set of great-grandparents met when he became a school master and she was governess to the headmaster's youngest children. Another set of g-grandparents met when he employed her to be his housekeeper. Errmmm......then they ''had'' to get married. Pity she already had a husband! Merry

Wasn't there something on 'who do you think you are ' about how one way to get out of the poor house was to agree to upsticks and go up north to industrialised counties to work in various factories?And they all came up here on barges. I'd like to trace where my lot who were all 'journeymen bricklayers' went to - just so i could say - that buildings one of mine!!! Jenx

I think a lot of it is down to workplace. Several of mine have married people doing a similar trade - eg cabinet makers marrying upholsterers and so on. My watermen/lightermen in London were an incestuous bunch anyway, thought themselves above the general labourers and kept in a clique. Ive got at least 6 families inter marrying in that trade over a period of 250 years. Of course further back if you were in a small village I guess you didnt have a lot of choice really! Perhaps you may meet someone in the next village or so at a fair or market but apart from that .............. Then there was the agricultural/industrial revolutions so people would be going from the land all over the country to an industrialised area. Ive got licensed victuallers marrying the daughters of licensed victuallers albeit it that one may have been born in Surrey and the other in Devon. I guess that eventually they would find themselves working in the same area and like now, would tend to be friendly with people of the same ilk.

Val, I would be pulling my hair out too, but for the excellent records kept by the Quakers. Marriage records give details of fathers AND mothers, plus occupations of everyone, from about 1700. Lots more info in birth and death records too than you get with C of E. In fact, if that Marshall/Tyler couple had been C of E, I KNOW I would have paired Miss Marshall to the wrong husband and been COMPLETELY happy with it! He died before 1851, so no chance of noticing he was born miles away!!! Merry