New Resource on the Members Area of the PHSI Website
Marriage Register 1756-94
Banbridge Presbyterian Church
Members of the Society can now access after logging in to the Members Area of the PHSI website an index to the marriages for Banbridge Presbyterian Church from 1756 to 1794.
The marriage register was kept during the ministries of the Rev Henry Jackson (said to be a relative of General Jackson, President of the United States), 1743-90, and the Rev Nathaniel Shaw, 1790-1812.
The congregation split in 1828 when the Rev Davis, the minister at the time, and some of his congregation, who adhered to New Light principles, decided to leave the General Synod of Ulster and join the Remonstrant Synod of Ulster (later to become the Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church of Ireland). Those who remained with the General Synod of Ulster joined the new church being erected in Scarva Street. The marriage register, however, remained in the possession of the Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church in Banbridge. It was published in The Journal of the proceedings of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, Vol XXXIX 1st Quarter, March 1909, by Edward Linn and with a Foreword by the Rev W T Lattimer.
Most of the 306 entries in the register are described as "Purposes of Marriage" which were really proclamations of banns which were never popular with Presbyterians. Almost all who were proclaimed were soon afterwards married so in effect the book is a register of marriages that took place. Occasionally, the date of marriage is also recorded, possibly because the minister omitted to enter the "Purpose" or proclamation of banns or perhaps because the proclamation took place on the same day as the marriage. Some entries are described as "Marriages without proclamation".
The spelling of surnames in the register is somewhat odd - Mahallan is probably "Mulholland", McCabbin may be "McKibbin" and McGumery is likely to be "Montgomery". All the names recorded are of Scottish, Irish or English origin except for Junnaux (Juneau) which is of Huguenot origin.
The index has been produced from the RSAI transcript of the marriage register and has been used with permission from the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, from Scarva Street Presbyterian Church, Banbridge, and from Banbridge Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church.
