Marriage Records

Understanding marriage records across different time periods and locations. Articles address church registers, civil certificates, international records, and historical marriage customs.

Genealogy Searches and Pre-1538 Marriage Records

Finding marriage records before 1538 in England and Wales is nearly impossible because most weddings simply weren't recorded at all.

Genealogy Source for Non-Anglican Marriages

Most Nonconformist churches didn't record marriages before 1837, but some records exist and can help trace your family tree.

Genealogy Sources for Non-Anglican Ancestors

Find church records for Methodists, Quakers and other Nonconformist ancestors who didn't appear in Anglican parish registers.

Handfasting and Marriage

Handfasting was a medieval betrothal, not a trial marriage, and was widely practised in Scotland and northern England.

How to Use Church Marriage Records to Trace Your Ancestors

Church marriage records can help trace your ancestors, but record quality and format changed significantly over time depending on location and enforcement.

Marriage Certificate Problems

When a marriage certificate goes missing, name changes and indexing errors are often to blame, but here's how to track it down.

Marriage Records: Scotland, Ireland, Channel Isles

How to find Scottish, Irish and Channel Isles marriage records for your family tree research.

New Zealand Marriage Records

How to search New Zealand's marriage records from 1854 onwards, including where to find the Registrar General's Index.

The Problems with Common Law Marriage

Common law marriage created major gaps in family history records because informal unions between couples weren't officially documented.

Using Marriage Certificates for Genealogy Research

Marriage certificates are more reliable than birth or death records for tracing your family history and usually faster to search through.

Were Fleet Marriages Taken as Legal?

Fleet marriages were quick, legal ceremonies performed in London prisons between 1696 and 1753, bypassing church requirements entirely.