Canford Magna Parish Church:
[Photographer: Ian Britton] Link
My parents were married in the above parish church, Canford Magna on the 23rd of May 1831.
Reuben FELTHAM, Shapwick, to Sarah WHEELER, Longfleet, by Banns.
Witnesses: William & Mary Wheeler and Stephen Mundy Masterman
The banns of marriage (mentioned above), commonly known as "the Banns", (from an Old English word meaning "to summon") are the public announcement in a parish church that a marriage is going to take place between two specified persons. The purpose of banns was to enable anyone to raise any legal objections so as to prevent marriages that are legally invalid, either under canon law or under civil law. Appropriate objections could include a vow of celibacy, lack of consent, a pre-existing marriage (having been neither dissolved nor annulled), or the couple's being related within the prohibited degrees of kinship. [see Wikipedia]
Banns in Dorset:
"These were the published intention of marriage and had to be announced on three Sundays before the intended wedding. They were issued in each of the parishes in which the couple resided. Their purpose was so that any potential objectors to the marriage had three weeks in which to comment." [Link]
Canford Magna:
Canford Magna is a Dorset village located south of the River Stour, between the towns of Wimborne Minster and Poole.
The choice of Canford magna parish church for the wedding would seem sensible in view of Sarah Wheeler coming from Longfleet (near Poole) and Reuben Feltham coming from Shapwick. Mary Wheeler (Sarah's sister) and Stephen Mundy Masterman would marry later the same year (1931).
River Stour near Canford Magna:
[Photographer: Ian Britton] Link
Googlemark - Reuben Feltham & Sarah Wheeler
