Richard Price and Maria Watts - Marriage and Banns Records, March-April 1802

Richard Price and Maria Watts were married in Isleworth, Middlesex, England on April 20, 1802 by W. Langford. The witnesses were Simon and Sarah Pearce. They were married by banns, the banns having been read on March 21st, 28th, and April 4th.

Banns:

Marriage Record (the middle entry, no. 10 on the following image):

Both the bride and groom must have been of age to marry, but beyond that, this record doesn't give us any clues to their age. It would be interesting to find out more about the witness couple: Simon Pearce and Sarah Pearce--probably husband & wife (but not necessarily). They could have been friends, neighbors, or relatives, or none of these, I suppose.

Richard Price - Militia Society Receipt, 10 Feb 1803

At the time of Richard Price, all men between 18 and 45 years of age were subject to being conscripted in the Militia. Wealthy individuals could pay for a substitute to go in their stead. Less wealthy individuals had an option to subscribe to the Militia Society. Members of the society would pay a nominal amount which collectively would be used to pay for a substitute for any members of the Society who were balloted.

Richard Price was one who joined the Militia Society, paying 16 shillings on February 10, 1803, as evidenced by the following receipt:

Do any family members reading this know where the original of this document is now located? It would be nice to obtain a modern, color, digital scan of this document.

Richard Price - Earliest Document? - Buckinghamshire Posse Comitatus, 1798

Right now--until we find an earlier document--the Buckinghamshire Posse Comitatus of 1798 is the earliest document mentioning Richard Price, grandfather to Robert Price.

The Buckinghamshire Posse Comitatus of 1798 is document containing "A Register of the Names and Occupations of all persons residing within the County of Buckingham (not engaged in any Military capacity) between the Ages of 15 and 60 years, And also of the Number of Draught Horses, Waggons, Carts of Burthen, Wind and Water Corn-Mills, within the same ... pursuant to a precept issued .. for the better ascertaining the Posse Comitatus."

Posse Comitatus means "force of the country;" however, it was not really used to conscript men into the military, as Roy Stockdill explains on his GENUKI webpage "Newbies' Guide to Genealogy & Family History," The following is a very informative explanation of the Posse Comitatus:

"Under the Defence of the Realm Act , lists known as "Posse Comitatus" lists and "Levee en Masse" lists were made in 1798 and 1803/04 respectively. These Defence Lists, despite their name, were not lists of those intended for military service. Their intention was to organise reserves of men not already serving in a military capacity for the defence of Britain against a French invasion. They would have been needed to evacuate the civilian population, remove wildstock and crops from the path of the invaders, gather arms and equipment and deal with food supplies to the forces and civilian population." (http://www.genuki.org.uk/gs/Newbie.html)

Richard is listed as a servant in Little Marlow on p. 236 of a copy of the Posse Comitatus, edited by Ian F. W. Beckett and published by the Buckinghamshire Record Society in 1985. The transcription was made from the original manuscript which resides in the Centre for Buckinghamshire Studies, Aylesbury.

This document shows us that Richard was residing in Little Marlow at least as early as 1798 and to my knowledge is the earliest document mentioning Richard Price.