H. History FAQ

Q1: What is a penny wedding?

Q2: What is a Cockney

Q1: What is a penny wedding?

A1: Penny Weddings were common in the East End of London during the 19th and early 20th century. Most working class people only had Easter and Christmas as holidays, working six and sometimes seven day weeks. This meant they had little time or money for getting married so batch weddings were quite common. In these weddings a batch of between 6 and up to 20 couples had a common wedding service where only the actual binding words were said individually. The penny was the amount each couple contributed to make up the total fee paid to the church.

Q2: What is a Cockney?

A2: A Cockney is or was someone born within the sound of Bow Bells (not those of St. Mary's, Bow but the ones at St Mary-le-Bow, Cheapside in the City of London). In the days of Dick Whittington the bells would have been heard all over London but with modern traffic noise they are barely heard on the opposite bank of the Thames!