What To Expect From Marriage Records

Early marriage records can be a great source of family information if the father of the bride and/or groom was present at the ceremony. This will not always be the case though, especially if the marriage took place in a different county to the one in which one of the parties was born. Just to clarify, this post is referring to the marriage records in the parish records, rather than marriage certificates (there will be a separate post on this at a later date). Generally speaking, marriage records tend to contain the following information:

Names. The names of both the bride and groom will feature on the marriage record. This may not include middle names.

Ages. The age of both the bride and groom tends to have been included on the marriage record. In some cases, this may simply say 'Of full age' to say that the bride in particular was of legal age to marry without the consent of her parents. Most of the time though, it gave the actual age at the time of the marriage.

Occupation. The occupation of both the bride and groom should be included, although this will not always be particularly enlightening. It is common for this box to simply say 'Spinster' for the bride.

Fathers' names. If one or both of the fathers' attended the marriage ceremony, this will often be stated on the record. If they did not attend, the marriage record will usually list other people as witnesses. Usually, this will be family members of some description (perhaps a sibling, aunt or uncle) but the witnesses may be unrelated to both the bride and groom.

Marriage records tended not to differ much from marriage certificates in terms of the information that is included. To access marriage records, you need to know the parish in which the marriage took place to look through the parish record in question. A good idea of the year also helps to narrow down the search a lot. To find marriage certificates, you need to know the district in which the marriage took place but not the parish itself. The General Register Office (GRO) will conduct a search one year either way of a specified year if you request this (for a fee naturally), so marriage certificates can be easier to find.