The impact of prohibited periods on the seasonality of marriage: denominational differences and cultural continuities among English settlers in nineteenth century Tasmania

The prohibitions on marriage associated with the liturgical seasons of Advent, Lent, and Rogation have been among the many influences on the timing of marriage in English populations up to the eighteenth century. The degree to which the liturgical seasons continued to have an impact in England into the nineteenth century remains unclear. Using all 51,139 marriages recorded in the Tasmanian Civil Registers between 1838 and 1899, this paper addresses the impact of the prohibited periods on the timing of marriage in the English colony of Tasmania. It reports exact measures for the whole population, and for the principal religious denominations, of the degree to which English settlers and their descendants timed their marriages in response to the requirements of the churches. The paper also offers an alternative methodology for resolving the procedural problems that arise when using aggregate monthly data. In order to calculate index rates, the paper uses the exact date of marriage and the rites used in the ceremony as recorded in the Civil Registers, the precise dates for the prohibited periods of Advent, Lent, and Rogation for each year, the actual number of days in each prohibited period, and the exact number of marriages in each year and each liturgical period for the six decades between 1840 and 1899. It found no evidence of continuing respect for the prohibited periods for the whole population, nor for any of the Protestant denominations, irrespective of whether earlier or later starting dates for the Lenten period were used. Significant evidence of avoidance of marriage in Advent and Lent, but not Rogation, was found only among those marrying according to Catholic rites, more strongly with later rather than earlier start dates for Lent, but the influence of the prohibitions declined over the course of the study period.