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Lunenburg County (Va.) Ministers' Returns, 1850-1854. Local government records collection, Lunenburg County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia 23219.
This item came to the Library of Virginia under the accession number 43095.
Lunenburg County was formed from Brunswick County by an act that took effect on 1 May 1746. Part of Lunenburg County was added in 1777. The county was named for King George II, duke of Brunswick-Luneburg, a German possession of England's Hanoverian kings.
Until 1780, marriages could be performed only by ministers of the Established Church, who were required by law to record marriages in the parish register. In 1780, dissenting ministers (only four per county from each sect) were first permitted to perform marriage ceremonies. In order to have a record of all marriages, ministers were required to sign a certificate to be filed with the county clerk. Intially, ministers sent marriage certificates to the clerk every three months. Some ministers adopted a custom of making collected returns--a list of marriages performed within a period of time such as a year or several years. Beginning in 1784, marriage certificates were returned annually. The law was rarely enforced, and ministers' returns were sometimes late, incorrect, incomplete, and in many instances, not made at all. County clerks compiled a register of marriages based, in part, on ministers' returns.
The ministers' returns of Lunenburg County (Va.) described in this collection were created by the County Court.
Lunenburg County (Va.) Ministers' Returns, 1850-1854, records the returns made by individual ministers of marriages performed within the county. The volume was originally titled, "Marriage Register, No. 1". As part of the return process, ministers filed marriage certificates with the county clerk. These signed documents certified that a minister had performed the actual marriage ceremony between the named individuals on a certain date. These returns took the form of lists.
Returns in this volume, prior to 1853, record the names of the parties, the date of the marriage ceremony and the minister's name and denomination. By 1853, more information was included in lists or certificates from the individual ministers such as the age of the parties, where the couple was residing, the occupation of the husband, status of the parties before marriage and where parties were married. In addition, the parents names of both parties and the birthplaces of both parties were sometimes noted. An unnumbered internal index is found at the beginning of the volume. Entries are arranged by the first letter of the groom's surname as it appears according to the page number of the volume.
Arranged chronologically.
Additional Lunenburg County Marriage Records can be found on microfilm at the Library of Virginia. Consult "A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm."