Posted By:	Graham P. Ramsden
	Email:
	Subject:	Thomas Ramsden, Mary Sunderland, m. 1793
	Post Date:	December 10, 2000 at 10:43:04
	Message URL:	http://genforum.genealogy.com/ramsden/messages/121.html
	Forum:	Ramsden Family Genealogy Forum
	Forum URL:	http://genforum.genealogy.com/ramsden/

Thomas Ramsden married Mary Sunderland in Keighly St. Andrews Church on the 12 th November 1793. I am a descendant of their second son John. The Church records show some unusual circumstances. Firstly, although Thomas is recorded as "of this Parish", they were married by licence, whereas everybody else around that time was married by banns. Secondly, they both signed their names --- at a time when many couples could sign only with an X. Thirdly, perhaps not quite so unusually, Mary was pregnant. Their first child Abraham, named after Mary's father, was born on the 4th May 1794. I have clues which lead me to believe that both Thomas and Mary were in service on the Guard House estate and were very young ; also that Thomas had quarrelled with his father over his predicament, probably causing Dad to refuse his permission to marry. Hence the court licence. The fact that they could write suggests they were both well-educated. Altogether an interesting couple. I would be most grateful to hear from anybody who can shed any light on their origins, particularly on Thomas's ancestors.