COVE

Image 1: "Jane Austen's Imaginative Marriage Forms"

Image 2: "Marriage Witness Forms signed by Jane Austen and Cassandra Austen"

Physical documentation was, and to an extent still is, extremely vital to the administrative organization of a church. These documents did not serve as simply just organizational forms, however - at first, they may have existed for tax purposes, according to some scholars.

When Henry VIII appointed Thomas Cromwell as Vicar-General, Cromwell used his knowledge of the Low Countries in which parish registers, documents certifying marriages, births, deaths, and bapstisms, were implemented to do the same for England. The idea was to have a parish for marriage, birth, death, and baptism. Cromwell introduced this idea, but the Pilgrimage of Grace insurgents quickly showed their dismay. John Charles Cox claims in his book "The Parish Registers of England" that the rumor began that the only reason for these requirements was that Henry VIII and Cromwell were going to experiment with taxes after others had failed, and pamphlets were distributed in 1536 detailing the grievances of the people. The first reads, "That no infant shall receive the blessed Sacrament of Baptisme bott onlesse an trybette be payd to the king" while another from 1537 states that people must pay for christenings, marriages, and burials (J. Cox 1-2).

Three years later, Cromwell issued injunctions to the English and Welsh parishes to have the parsons enter all of the baptisms, marriages, and burials of the previous week on that Sunday. The warden was to be present to ensure it was all legal, and the parish registries were to be kept in a book locked by two locks. In the official statement, there is no mention of a fee associated with any of these registries, thus ending the exploration of using registries for taxation (J. Cox 3). Though there is no official documentation stating that parishes were to be paid for by the people, the repeated uproar of using parish registrations as a means of taxation leads scholars to believe that there was a significant likelihood that this was the original intent.

Churches began to use these parish registries once commanded to do so, and it continued into Jane Austen's lifetime. An example of a marriage parish registry can be seen in the first image, where Austen writes her own name alongside an imaginary companion (B. Cox, Image 1). The second image shows Austen's signature as a witness to her cousin's, Jane Cooper, marriage, alongside her sister Cassandra (B. Cox, Image 2). The witness signature was necessary for the validity of the marriage document. 

Austen would have had significant familiarity with the process of parish registries due to her father's occupation. Being a rector required great religious responsibility, and it would be up to him to protect the parish registries. It is intriguing and humorous to many scholars that Austen would have imagined herself marrying, as she never did, and have made joking references that these documents were her first ever marriage-plots. Parish registries were extremely important for the Church of England, and Austen's signature on a witness line indicates that this practice was pertinent to her and her family's lives. 

Works Referenced

“Church of England ‑ Anglican Church.” History.Com, A&E Television Networks, www.history.com/topics/european-history/church-of-england. Accessed 8 Oct. 2024.

Cox, Brenda S. Fashionable Goodness: Christianity in Jane Austen’s England. Topaz Cross Books, 2022.

Cox, Brenda. “A Drive Through Steventon to St. Nicholas Church.” Jane Austen’s World, janeaustensworld.com/tag/st-nicholas-church/. Accessed 8 Oct. 2024.

Cox, Brenda. Jane Austen’s Imaginative Marriage Forms. Jane Austen’s World, https://janeaustensworld.com/tag/st-nicholas-church/.

Cox, Brenda. Marriage Witness Forms signed by Jane Austen and Cassandra Austen. Jane Austen’s World, https://janeaustensworld.com/tag/st-nicholas-church/.

Cox, John Charles. Parish Registers of England Cox, J. Charles. Forgotten Books, 2019.