General Synods of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland:
MSS42 Bound volume containing handwritten and some printed reports from the General Synods of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland held at Magherafelt 1785; Lurgan 1787 and 1789; Dungannon 1794, Cookstown 1804, 1806, 1809, 1811-1814 and 1817; Belfast 1815, 1816 and 1817-1819. This volume includes, yearly lists of the names of Presbyterian widows who were assisted financially by the Widows' Fund and numerous references to marriage practices. For example:

At the Presbyterian Synod held at Lurgan it was noted 'Any member of this Synod who shall join in Marriage any Man or Woman not under his Pastoral Care, or is not duly certified by the Minister or Session of the Congregation of which they are members; shall for the first offence be suspended ab officio for three months, and for the second be degraded. And that when either of the Parties shall be a member of the Established Church; He shall not celebrate any Matrimonial Contract without the consent in writing of the Rector, Curate or other officiating Clergyman of the Parish in which said party shall be a Resident...That in as much as this rule proved ineffectual, by reason of mistaken lenity, in not prosecuting such as have offended; we do strictly enjoin and require that every offender be prosecuted most unequivocally...And further; we do strictly enjoin and require all sessions within the bounds of this Synod, to suspend from privileges all such Persons as shall be irregularly married, and not to restore them, untill (sic) they make a publick (sic) acknowledgement of this offence, and submit to be regularly married', 27 June 1787.

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