Find your ancestors in Pembroke Banns

Discover your Welsh ancestors through their announcements records. You will find the dates of banns announcements, your ancestor’s marriage date and marital status.

Each record includes an image of the banns record and an individual transcript for each entry. The amount of information recorded has changed throughout the history of parish records. The detail in each transcript and image can vary but most will include the following:

Transcript

  • Name
  • Banns date (first date of announcements)
  • Marriage date
  • Spouse’s name
  • Bride and Groom’s parish

Viewing the original image will always add extra value to your family history. The images may include:

  • All banns dates
  • Additional notes including marital status (widow, bachelor, spinster, etc.)

Discover more about these records

Before 1754, banns were listed one volume with baptisms, marriages and burials, but after 1754 they were recorded in a separate designated book. Further through the years the books became more standardised and later banns are recorded in pre-printed books.

The tradition of banns can be traced as far back as 1215. It was introduced as a way to prevent secret marriages. Banns were announcements made in the church on three separate Sundays during the three months leading up to the wedding day. The announcements were made to give the congregation an opportunity to voice any objection to the marriage. Finding a banns record is not confirmation that a couple were married. If banns were announced, it meant that a couple intended to marry, but for a variety of reasons the marriage may not have proceeded.

Pembrokeshire, *Sir Benfro* in Welsh, is located in south Wales. It is bordered by the sea on three sides: St. Bride’s Bay and Cardigan Bay of St. George’s Channel on the west and north-west and Bristol Channel on the south. Pembroke is mostly rural but has a strong industrial sector centred on Milford Haven. The deep sea port of Milford Haven is one of Europe’s leading oil ports.

The southern part of Pembroke is known as ‘Little England beyond Wales.’ After the Norman conquest in the 12th century the region held strong ties to England and with an influx of Flemish settlers English became the dominant language. In Welsh, the area is called *Sir Benfro Saesneg* or English Pembrokeshire.