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How do I go about obtaining a marriage certificate

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  • How do I go about obtaining a marriage certificate

    I would like the marriage certificate of my Great Grandparents.

    How and where is the best place to obtain one from. ?

  • #2
    If you know the exact date and place of their marriage then you would be best to get it from the appropriate local register office.

    If you don't know the exact date and place then you can still get it from the local office if they have an online BMD index.

    If neither of the above apply then the GRO (General Register Office) would be the place to contact (you can buy online with a debit or credit caard)

    Maybe you could tell us what you know, so more exact advice can be given?

    (Never pay more than £7 for a certificate )

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    • #3
      Tony, if they got married in England or Wales then you can order it from the GRO, or if you know which district they got married in then you can order it from the local register office for that district.

      This is the link to the GRO website:
      Registration Services - Certificate Ordering Service
      KiteRunner

      Every five years or so I look back on my life and I have a good... laugh"
      (Indigo Girls, "Watershed")

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      • #4
        Is it George and Sarah Ellen Farmery, by any chance....?

        I think I looked for their marriage the other day and couldn't find it, though I didn't look hard!! lol

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        • #5
          Hi Merry and KR ...
          Is there any advantage in ordering from a local register office ?

          I've never tried it because I always find the whole process really confusing and have to get OH to order for me from the GRO (I'm sure I must have 'filling-in-form' dislexia !)

          I have the birth cert for gt grandpa (from the GRO) but have never managed to find his mother's family. Is it at all possible that the GRO have the wrong surname ?


          ~ FOR PHOTO RESTORATIONS PLEASE SCAN AT A RESOLUTION OF 300-600 WITH THE SCALE AT 100% MINIMUM ~ http://restoreandcolour.brainwaving.co.uk

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          • #6
            Originally posted by Rachel Scand View Post
            Hi Merry and KR ...
            Is there any advantage in ordering from a local register office ?

            I've never tried it because I always find the whole process really confusing and have to get OH to order for me from the GRO (I'm sure I must have 'filling-in-form' dislexia !)

            I have the birth cert for gt grandpa (from the GRO) but have never managed to find his mother's family. Is it at all possible that the GRO have the wrong surname ?


            Original signatures and a GRO cert has already been copied once from the original, so mistakes in copying can creep in.

            However, reg offices with no indexing system usually won't do marriage certs without a date and venue as there are often dozens of churches to choose from and it would take them a long time to find the right record.

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            • #7
              I've never filled in a form to get a local cert!!! I would just write them a letter lol

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              • #8
                Possible, yes, Rachel. To be honest, I nearly always order from the GRO too but there can be advantages in ordering from the local register office - for instance, for a marriage, if they got married at the register office and you get a photocopy of the original certificate then you can see their signatures. And there should be fewer mistakes - again, if it is a photocopy of the original certificate rather than one that a clerk has written out or typed up for you.
                KiteRunner

                Every five years or so I look back on my life and I have a good... laugh"
                (Indigo Girls, "Watershed")

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                • #9
                  Many local offices do go the extra mile and are extremely helpful - a personal service which you will not get from the GRO online automated ordering service (because it is automated).

                  In addition, if you give the local office checking points, they don't charge at all for the wrong cert, whereas GRO charge a £3 finding fee.

                  And as Merry says, if you want the original sigs, the only place you will get that is from ther local RO. GRO don't hold any original certificates, they are all copies.

                  Many counties have bmd websited - go to UKBMD - Births, Marriages, Deaths Indexes & Census transcriptions for the UK, On-Line to see if your county is covered.

                  Final word - many London Registration Offices do not handle requests for family history certs, so you will have no alternative but to order from the GRO.

                  OC

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Merry Monty Montgomery View Post
                    Is it George and Sarah Ellen Farmery, by any chance....?

                    I think I looked for their marriage the other day and couldn't find it, though I didn't look hard!! lol
                    Yes it is George and Sarah Ellen Farmery.

                    I think I may have some dates I will check when Iget home from work.

                    Thank you to everyone for the quick replies.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Do you have a birth cert for one of their children? This would provide Sarah's maiden name and make looking for the right marriage much easier

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                      • #12
                        Not quite answering Tony but as a general point, there are many cases where a local office is the only place a record (and therefore certificate) exists, the system used to create the GRO index and copies of certificates (which are not the original documents) is quite complex and is the result of transcribing details several times. The process can lead to missing and incorrect entries.

                        I have a local and GRO version of a certificate, if i had relied on the GRO version only i would have thought it to be the wrong certificate, the details vary so much from the local version, only the date and venue is a match, all the names have some form of discrepancy on the GRO version, the local issued cert has the details i expected.

                        But as Merry says, unless you know the venue then many local reg offices will struggle to supply a marriage certificate as they may have several registers to check, each marriage venue (church, chapel and register office) has it's own register and within a city there can be dozens of venues.

                        A comparison/visual guide of local and GRO issued certs can be found in the wiki;
                        Scanned and Handwritten Certificates Guide - Family Tree Forum
                        http://www.flickr.com/photos/50125734@N06/

                        Joseph Goulson 1701-1780
                        My sledging hammer lies declined, my bellows too have lost their wind
                        My fire's extinct, my forge decay'd, and in the dust my vice is laid

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          I have a local and GRO version of a certificate, if i had relied on the GRO version only i would have thought it to be the wrong certificate, the details vary so much from the local version, only the date and venue is a match, all the names have some form of discrepancy on the GRO version, the local issued cert has the details i expected.
                          I think it's probably fair to point out that the above finding is probably pretty rare

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by Merry Monty Montgomery View Post
                            I think it's probably fair to point out that the above finding is probably pretty rare

                            True Merry

                            Sometimes you have to use all the resources available, most folks know my preference is for local offices but i'm lucky as Lincoln reg office are one of the best for service levels but without a marriage venue they can't supply a marriage cert, a quick look at the Lincolnshire Places Of Worship shows just how many venues there are, it must equate to thousands of registers!!
                            http://www.flickr.com/photos/50125734@N06/

                            Joseph Goulson 1701-1780
                            My sledging hammer lies declined, my bellows too have lost their wind
                            My fire's extinct, my forge decay'd, and in the dust my vice is laid

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              thank you all .... interesting

                              The marriage of gr grandpa's parents was probably before 1837 as it doesn't show up anywhere, but maybe I should fork out for a birth or death cert of one of his siblings.

                              That ought to confirm gt gt gran's maiden name .. will start off by writing to the local office and see what happens. Come to think of it, the library people were very helpful


                              ~ FOR PHOTO RESTORATIONS PLEASE SCAN AT A RESOLUTION OF 300-600 WITH THE SCALE AT 100% MINIMUM ~ http://restoreandcolour.brainwaving.co.uk

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                              • #16
                                Rachel, only the birth certificate will confirm the mother's maiden name; a death cert won't give it.
                                KiteRunner

                                Every five years or so I look back on my life and I have a good... laugh"
                                (Indigo Girls, "Watershed")

                                Comment


                                • #17
                                  Originally posted by Rachel Scand View Post
                                  thank you all .... interesting

                                  The marriage of gr grandpa's parents was probably before 1837 as it doesn't show up anywhere, but maybe I should fork out for a birth or death cert of one of his siblings.

                                  That ought to confirm gt gt gran's maiden name .. will start off by writing to the local office and see what happens. Come to think of it, the library people were very helpful



                                  The other disadvantage is that father may have been widowed and remarried. Hopefully to a woman with a different christian name, but not necessarily.
                                  Phoenix - with charred feathers
                                  Researching Skillings from Norfolk, Sworn from Salisbury and Adams in Malborough, Devon.

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                                  • #18
                                    Originally posted by KiteRunner View Post
                                    Rachel, only the birth certificate will confirm the mother's maiden name; a death cert won't give it.
                                    Right, a birth cert it will be

                                    Originally posted by Phoenix View Post
                                    The other disadvantage is that father may have been widowed and remarried. Hopefully to a woman with a different christian name, but not necessarily.
                                    Hmmmmm ... that's a consideration
                                    I do have gt gt gran on census 1841 - 1891 and both her forename and place of birth are consistant.


                                    ~ FOR PHOTO RESTORATIONS PLEASE SCAN AT A RESOLUTION OF 300-600 WITH THE SCALE AT 100% MINIMUM ~ http://restoreandcolour.brainwaving.co.uk

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                                    • #19
                                      Originally posted by Merry Monty Montgomery View Post
                                      Do you have a birth cert for one of their children? This would provide Sarah's maiden name and make looking for the right marriage much easier

                                      I dont have any certificates but I know Sarahs maiden was HULME.

                                      I have the FARMERY family tree going back to the mid 1700s.

                                      This was done by a chap down in Stroud whos done a one name study on the

                                      FARMERY name.

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                                      • #20
                                        Do you have a rough idea of date???

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