MANUSCRIPT DOCUMENT BY RALPH HEATHCOTE "Certificate of Mr. Maxwell's Marriage". SIGNED by Ralph Heathcote in his role as Minister Plenipotentiary, officiating the marriage of Edward Maxwell and Frances Herbert.

Dated "6th day of September, 1791".

One page, folio, 8x12.5 inches, with conjugate blanks. There is an official red wax seal. Backside has "Certificate of Mr. Maxwell's Marriage". Paper is watermarked with a large heraldic image and "Vorster & Zoonen".

The marriage appears to have taken place in Germany, with Bonn, Hesse-Cassel, and Cologne all being mentioned. But the marriage was between two Irish citizens.

The document reads in part: "I Ralph Heathcote, Minister Plenipotentiary of His Brittanic Majesty to the Courts of the Elector of Cologne, and to the Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel do hereby certify that EDWARD MAXWEll, of Finnebrogue, of the County of Down in Ireland, and Frances Herbert, Daughter of the late Rev. Robert Herbert of Dublin..."

Written and Signed by Heathcote. Also signed by six witnesses.

GOOD condition, numerous folds where likely folded to fit into a small envelope, some light foxing, a few corner creases, overall solid and bright.

An interesting genealogical document, handwritten on paper with unusual watermarks.

About RALPH HEATHCOTE (from Wikipedia):

******Ralph Heatchote, b.1721 d.1765. In 1748 Heathcote became curate of St Margaret's Church, Leicester, and vicar of Barkby in 1749. He moved in June 1753 to London, where he associated with John Jortin, Thomas Birch, Matthew Maty, and others, who met once a week to drink coffee and talk learnedly.

In 1746 Heathcote published a Latin dissertation on the history of astronomy, Historia Astronomiæ sive de ortu et progressu astronomiæ. He produced two pamphlets anonymously: Cursory Animadversions on the Controversy in General (1752), and Remarks upon a Charge by Dr. Chapman (1752); and in the following year wrote a reply to Thomas Fothergill's sermon on the uses of commemorating King Charles I's martyrdom. In 1755 he wrote a controversial work: A Sketch of Lord Bolingbroke's Philosophy. In 1761, he became one of the main writers in the Biographical Dictionary of 1761.

In 1767, Heathcote published an anonymous letter to Horace Walpole on the dispute between David Hume and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, which was attributed to Walpole himself. In 1771, he published anonymously The Irenarch, or Justice of the Peace's Manual; the third edition bore the author's name. The second and third editions have a long dedication to Lord Mansfield. In 1786, he produced a miscellany of anecdotes and dissertations, Sylva.

In August 1750 Heathcote married Margaret Mompesson, a descendant of William Mompesson of Eyam, and attained financial independence.******