Most genealogists start their research by searching for three dates: birth, marriage, and death. I am no exception to this. When researching my 2x great grandparents, I noticed something that peaked my interest - they were married on Christmas day 1897. During modern times, this would have been most unusual, however it was quite common amongst the lower classes during the Victorian era.
During certain days of the year (such as Christmas Day, Boxing Day, and Easter), some churches in Victorian England would offer to perform cheaper or free wedding services. Due to their low price, these marriages became known as 'Penny Weddings'. They were simple and quick services which are best described by James Greenwood's account of a London church in 1866. His description paints the bride and groom as being of a lower status, dishevelled, and dirty appearance. He goes on to sate that:
"The candidates for matrimony were nearly all of the very lowest order, and the marrying couples were, as a rule, very young. There were exceptions however. Parents often brought their illegitimate children so that they could see them being 'made honest'".
The simplicity of the penny weddings is best described by the volume that a single church would perform in one day. It was not uncommon for a church to perform more marriages on Christmas Day than they would during any given month of the year. The poorest areas saw the greatest numbers. In 1899 a newspaper article claimed that one East End church performed 84 services on Christmas Day, with the majority of which being for coaster mongers (and the like). To meet these staggering numbers, some churches opted to perform multiple services at a time. There are accounts of five to twelve couples all being married during the same service! The church's operational hours also shifted to meet the need. Originally, marriages were only performed in the morning, however in the 1880's this was extended until 3pm.
For my 2x great grandparents, James Greenwood's and newspaper's descriptions ring true. They were of the poorer classes - with him coming from a family of fish hawkers. They already had a 9 month old son and were living together. Christmas day would have been one of the only days that he knew and could afford to take off and therefore it made the most sense (economically speaking) to get married on that day. The likely free service explains why they did not get married before their son born in March. It also explains why some of their other siblings also opted to get married on subsequent Christmas Days.
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