CLAVERING MARRIAGE REGISTERS

Up until the Reformation, children could be espoused at 7 years old, and marriage could take place as young as 12 for girls and 14 for boys. The early Clavering registers do not give ages, so we cannot check whether any very young people were married here. Throughout the 16th and most of the 17th centuries, there were restrictions on what times of year marriage could take place – many of the early entries in the Clavering marriage register seem to be summer weddings. Marriages usually needed to take place through banns and up to 1837 marriages could only take place without banns through obtaining a licence from the bishop or archdeacon – this is sometimes shown in the registers. The Marriage Act of 1753 regularised marriages.

The Clavering marriage register is part of the all-purpose register book starting in 1554, and the very first one recorded is that of Nicholas Barnard to Joan Brode of Newporte on 8 April 1554. Others that year were William Cartwright & Elizabeth Clarke, William Huntwyke & Joan Barleye, Richard Lawe & Margaret Clarke, Thomas Ricard & Margaret Groute, Thomas Pepercorne & Joan Gibb. It is fascinating to wonder if the various members of the Law family still in Clavering today might date back to that Richard! The other surnames found in these early years include Smythe, Jypps, Mowle, Holgate, Whitlocke, Woodcocks, Thake, Waylet and Cakebread among the males; Thake, Meade, Daye, Lorkyn, Romble, Pigg, Barnard, Hagger among the females.

Although few of these surnames can be found in the village today, they can be found in some of the field names and house names. There is still a house called Cakebreads at Ford End, for instance.

Some of the Clavering marriage registers have been transcribed and can be found at the Essex Record Office.