What was a marriage bond and how did it work?

[anderson]

I recently discovered a marriage bond for my grandparents married in 1895. It was for 100 dollars and there was another individual who was listed as the surety. Any idea how these worked? 100 bucks in 1895 was an awful lot of money!

[DCA]

In Canada this was only used for 'Protesant' marriages.  A marriage bond was given to the court by the intended groom prior to his marriage. It affirmed that there was no moral or legal reason why the couple could not be married and it also affirmed that the groom would not change his mind. If he did, and did not marry the intended bride, he would forfeit the bond. Understandably, since $100 was a lot of money at the time the surety could be relied on to ensure that the groom arrived at church.

D