This register is from the Lutheran Church in the town of Nemesdömölk in Vas county. During the 18th century, when most of the Lutheran churches were closed, this was the only functioning Protestant church in northern Vas county. Therefore baptisms and marriages were performed here for several nearby communities.
The format and content of this register is fairly typical of Protestant church registers of the late 18th century.
Format: Tabular format, with badly damaged lower-left page corner.
For comments on damage to church registers:
Content of Register.
The entry of interest is at the bottom of the page -- the most severly damaged area. Each page of the register consists of four hand-drawn columns. All the information is in the Magyar language except the first word of the first column which is consistently the Latin word "Die" meaning "day" -- so read "Die 6. Febr" as " On the 6th day of February."
Format of information on groom and bride: In this register, a standard format is used in these two columns, which is fairly typical of the era. First comes the hometown of the person (remember, the Nemesdömölk church was used by Lutherans in many surrounding towns). Next is the name of the person being wed, their father's name, their status, and their age. The ordering is slightly different for men and women, and for previously unmarrieds and widows.
Column.
- Date of Marriage: For this entry, the date is totally missing. The last previous legible date is 06 Feb, therefore in my database I note that this marriage was probably a few days after that.
- Information on Groom: Sági -- from the village of Ság. Börötz János ifj leg -- Börötz is an old spelling of Berecz, ifj leg is the abbreviation for ifjúság legény -- young bachelor (note: on rare occasions I've seen öreg legény -- old bachelor). bold Börötz István fija -- fija means son of, bold is the abbreviation for boldogult -- indicating he is deceased. 25 eszt -- eszt is the abbreviation for esztendos -- years of age. So the entry for the groom reads: John Berecz, a 25 year-old young bachelor from Ság, son of the late Stephen Berecz.
- Information on Bride: Alsömesteri -- from the village of Alsömester. bold Nagy István hajadon leánya Julinka -- hajadon leánya means maiden daughter of. 17 eszt -- 17 years of age. So the entry for the bride reads: Julie, the 17 year-old maiden daughter of the late Stephen Nagy of Alsömester.
- Names of Witness(es): There is only one witness listed on this entry, a man named János Somogyi. Most of the other entries in this register list two witnesses, which is a much more common situation.
Other information regarding this example: the top entry shown involves a groom who was a widower -- note that he is identified as such öszvégy -- the Magyar word for both widow and widower. His father's name is still given, which is rather unusual for widowers. There is no mention of his previous wife, which is typical. In the case of females (ie. widows) their late husband's name is almost always noted, as is the bride's maiden name. Her father's name typically is not mentioned.