Marriage witness for a fee?
Posted: Sat Mar 05, 2016 1:47 am
My gg grandfather Thomas Fitzgerald(c1820-c1890) lived in the village of Milford, Co Cork. On his daughter Ellen's marriage certificate his occupation was stated as being a butcher.
Upon searching through the Milford(Freemount) parish marriage register I noticed that for a period during the 1860's a certain Thomas Fitzgerald was nominated as a witness to the marriage on a rather extraordinary number of occasions. His name was appearing 3, 4 or 5 times on each page of the register.
Could his butcher shop have been next door to the church and he was grabbed each time someone was short of a witness?
Might he have been a lay helper to the priest on wedding days?
Could he have been doing it for a fee?
I would be interested to know if any forum members have encountered this phenomenon before.
Upon searching through the Milford(Freemount) parish marriage register I noticed that for a period during the 1860's a certain Thomas Fitzgerald was nominated as a witness to the marriage on a rather extraordinary number of occasions. His name was appearing 3, 4 or 5 times on each page of the register.
Could his butcher shop have been next door to the church and he was grabbed each time someone was short of a witness?
Might he have been a lay helper to the priest on wedding days?
Could he have been doing it for a fee?
I would be interested to know if any forum members have encountered this phenomenon before.