Joseph Cousselle and Louisa Langley, Marriage License, 1853

A marriage license then and now is fairly straightforward: It is a record of a couple’s legal relationship. But it also contains pertinent chronological, demographic, and social information about the couple and their families.

Joseph Cousselle and Louisa Langley, Marriage License, 1853
Marriage License, 1853. London Metropolitan Archives.

Questions

  1. Question

    Why is it useful for historians to know the professions of Joseph Cousselle's and Louisa Langley's parents? What type of inferences about the marriage itself might you be able to make from this knowledge?

  2. Question

    Considering the time period, who is likely to be left off the record if you are relying solely on a marriage license for biographical information?

[Leave] [Close]