Marriage certificates – Information

Marriage certificates are particularly useful for UK family history, as they can give you the bride’s maiden name, and open up a whole new avenue of research – unless the bride is a Smith, of course! There was much gnashing of teeth when I discovered my gggrandmother was a Rebecca Smith... and some day, I really will pursue that line.

The information on a marriage certificate is as follows:

When married.
Name and surname of the bride and groom – bear in mind that the bride’s name may not be her maiden name, if she has married before.
Their age – people often lied about their age on marriage certificates (women in particular often knocked years off their age). You may be unlucky and see “of full age” or simply “full”. This usually means that the person was over 21, although sometimes the registrar has taken it to mean above the age of consent.
Whether a bachelor, spinster, widowed or divorced – sometimes those widowed or divorced might claim to be bachelors or spinsters.
Rank or profession – often only applicable in the case of the groom.
Residence at the time of the marriage – this may just give the name of the parish.
Father’s name and surname – for both bride and groom, however old they were.
Example
My gggrandfather was over 60 when he married a second time. However, he still gave his father’s name and occupation (with no mention that he had died more than 50 years before). Don’t be misled into assuming the father is still alive, just because he is named in the marriage certificate.
Rank of profession of the father – again for both bride and groom.
Where they were married.
Whether it was by banns or licence.
The names of witnesses – a minimum of two, although in some cases there were more. Those who couldn’t write, or didn’t want to, may have left their mark, indicated by an X and the words “by mark” or similar. Nb If you order a certificate from the General Register Office, the signatures of the bride, groom and witnesses are copies, not their actual signatures.

Example

This shows part of a marriage certificate for my great grandmother, Catherine Underwood, a wealthy widow. In her first marriage, she described her father as a butcher. However, he had been upgraded to a gentleman for her marriage to John William Harton nine years later. Sadly, the Rev Harton was not all he seemed, and rapidly got through Catherine’s inheritance.