This is the marriage record for William Crutchley and Sarah Poyner. Although I know little about William's life, according to the census returns in which he appears he was born at Longdon, near Lichfield in about 1775. The same records show that William was an agricultural labourer, which would have been a common occupation in this part of rural Staffordshire during William's lifetime.

William married Sarah Poyner at St Luke's church in Cannock on 15th October 1806, their wedding may be the reason why he moved from Longdon to Cheslyn Hay. However, manner in which they the met is unclear, given that Longdon and Cheslyn Hay are ten miles apart. Other possibilities for William's presence in Cheslyn Hay could have been work, or that he was following the Nonconformist religious movement which was gaining popularity in the region at this time. Two of William's descendants were Methodist Ministers, and the Crutchley family were involved in the funding and construction of Salem Methodist Church in Cheslyn Hay.

William and Sarah were married by license rather than the publication of banns, which at this time would have been an expensive way to conduct a wedding. This expense seems to be unusual since William was an agricultural labourer, and therefore it is questionable whether he could have afforded the license. It could be that Sarah was expecting a child and so the couple needed to get married quickly. However, the oldest birth record that I have found is for their son Jeremiah, born in 1809 three years after their marriage.

Another possibility is that in 1806 William became part of a local militia, military units that were formed to fight the Napoleonic Wars which occurred between 1803 and 1815. It seems possible that they may have wanted to marry before William went away to fight in that war.

We will never know for sure why William and Sarah were married by license, but we do know that they went on to have nine children in total. Both William and Sarah are buried at St Luke's church in Cannock, as far as I know no memorial has survived.