Genealogy Chat

I have in my tree cousins who have married Is or was it the done thing at that time for first cousins to marry 1870ish Thanks in advance

Hi, I've had about three lots of cousins who married - so you're not alone. I don't think it has ever been against the law to marry your cousin. Cheers, Horatia

Remember that Queen Victoria married her 1st cousin, Albert, in 1840.

I'd always assumed that it had once not been possible to marry a first cousin, but it seems that in fact you could. Odd! Marrying your deceased wife's niece must surely have been out, though.

Mmm I also thought it was not allowed to marry your first cousin, how wrong I'am. I also have on another side of my tree, my deceased great great great Uncle's widow going on to marry his nephew!! We seem to be keeping it in the family

I have lots of cousin marriages on my tree, also multiple ones.......brother and sister marrying their cousin brother and sisters.... Here's something cribbed by me off another thread. I didn't keep the name of the original poster, so thanks, whoever they may be....... Degrees of Consanguinity According to the Book of Common Prayer 1662 A man may not marry his: 1 Grandmother 2 Grandfather's wife 3 Wife's grandmother 4 Father's sister 5 Mother's sister 6 Father's brother's wife 7 Mother's brother's wife 8 Wife's father's sister 9 Wife's mother's sister 10 Mother 11 Step-mother 12 Wife's mother 13 Daughter 14 Wife's daughter 15 Son's wife 16 Sister 17 Wife's sister 18 Brother's wife 19 Son's daughter 20 Daughter's daughter 21 Son's son's wife 22 Daughter's son's wife 23 Wife's son's daughter 24 Wife's daughter's daughter 25 Brother's daughter 26 Sister's daughter 27 Brother's son's wife 28 Sister's son's wife 29 Wife's brother's daughter 30 Wife's sister's daughter A woman may not marry her: 1 Grandfather 2 Grandmother's husband 3 Husband's grandfather 4 Father's brother 5 Mother's brother 6 Father's sister's husband 7 Mother's sister's husband 8 Husband's father's brother 9 Husband's mother's brother 10 Father 11 Step-father 12 Husband's father 13 Son 14 Husband's son 15 Daughter's husband 16 Brother 17 Husband's brother 18 Sister's husband 19 Son's son 20 Daughter's son 21 Son's daughter's husband 22 Daughter's daughter's husband 23 Husband's son's son 24 Husband's daughter's son 25 Brother's son 26 Sister's son 27 Brother's daughter's husband 28 Sister's daughter's husband 29 Husband's brother's son 30 Husband's sister's son 1907 Marriage Act – Number 17 removed, provided the wife had died, ie a man could marry his deceased wife’s sister 1921 Marriage Act – Number 18 removed 1931 Marriage Act – Numbers 6 & 7, 8 & 9, 27 & 28, 29 & 30 removed from the list If there was ever a ban on first cousins marrying then it was prior to 1662 Merry

Before Victoria married her cousin Albert, Mary II married her cousin William III. As far as I am aware there has never been a barrier to marrying cousins. nell

About the 'Degrees of Consanguinity', if you visit St Mary's Church at the top of the Abbey steps at Whitby (North Yorkshire), you will find a notice on the wall with this information. Perhaps the vicar was frequently asked if a man could marry his dead wife's niece (or 2nd cousin or whatever). I, too, was trying to find a way to show that someone in my family had married his cousin, but it seems you can't, other than adding it to the notes.

One reasons cousins married a bit in the past was to keep family property/money in the family and control political alliances. This is certainly true of aristocracy and royalty. With your average person, if they lived in a small village they would have a much more limited choice of partner than we have nowadays. In fact way back in a small village I suspect you couldn't help but marry your own blood stock most of the time. There are very few surnames in old parish registers and plenty of intermarriages. People wouldn't have known as much as we do now about inherited diseases either. nell

My great grandparents were cousins and they married in 1915.

Anyone who has first cousins marrying within their tree can thank Henry VIII for changing the law to allow him to marry his cousin.

I'll let my brother and sister-in-law/cousin know - it'll make a change letting them know they are upholding a royal tradition rather than me calling them trailer trash!! (only in jest of course). It does make it confusing trying to explain the relationships - i am my nephews aunty and also his first cousin, once removed I think. Then there's his half-brother as well which is just mindboggling!!

Which of Henry VIII's 6 wives was his cousin, then?

The Roman Catholic Church never forbade the marriage of First Cousins - but it DID demand that the couple request a Dispensation, either from the Bishop, or directly from Rome. The request for Dispensation was always accompanied by a hefty purse of course. I think where Henry V111 comes in is the point where PROTESTANT cousins no longer needed to request a dispensation from Rome. (I am unsure whether they needed to request a Dispensation from Henry???) but Roman Catholics presumably still had to go through the same rigmarole. Olde Crone

On my partners Irish line they have 1st cousins marrying! c1890. They say that, that hill is FAR FAR! away!!! lol (nod nod wink wink) They have farmed the same land for 600 years! Gerri x Lovely interesting thread...thanks :-))

Many of my rural lot married other members of the extended family, including first cousins, or people who have been a witness at a family marriage. If you take into account how little time was spent away from your 'place', a family edding would be an ideal opportunty to meet a fresh face. Also, if you had only a couple of hours off and didn't have time to walk home and back again, you probably spent it with members of the extended family. If you were in service and lived in the country, then opportunities to meet people were very limited. Jay

Dea and Janet Most of my rural farmer ancestors married cousins etc. It gets very complicated when the generations get out of sync - someone from the fourth generation marrying someone from the fifth, for instance. GR tree simply cannot cope with this! I am sure it was for the reasons a) A limited choice of marriage partners in an isolated rural community. b) A farmer's need to ensure that all his hard work, and his land, went to someone 'in the family' rather than to an incoming stranger. My rellies also seem to disprove the theory that inbreeding is a 'bad' thing. Few of them died in infancy, a few women died in childbirth, but the rest went on to live VERY long lives and produce huge families, despite their extremely small gene pool! Olde Crone.

Olde Crone, There's a saying round here that farmers only marry amongst themselves to keep the money in the family, and that certainly seems to have been the case! I'm afraid I can't aspire to the farmers, though, mine were only the sKivvies. Jay

I spoke to my father in law to tell him that two of his cousins had married in the mid 1800's, he looked and said well xxxxx and yyyyyy are cousins ( my nephew and his childs mother ) oh my god - well they are cousins but not first probably three or four times removed. Small villiages is where it comes from, and as you see three, four and five generations later the children are meeting up and marring again!! Glad I'm from the big city! lol

I've several cousin marriages in my tree, and found it not only makes it easier to research, but its also a very good argument for looking at the extended family rather than sticking to your direct line. I always wondered how my 2xgt grandparents got together - he from coal mining stock & she from a farming family based 30 miles away. He joined the army to escape the grit & grime and ended up a career soldier. They married in Bombay. I had a shock researching her family when I found out her uncle had married my 2x gt grandfather's older sister some 15 years earlier. [work out that relationship!] At least this family connection explained how they met.