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Ordering a copy of a marriage certificate from GRO - what does certificate look like?

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  • Ordering a copy of a marriage certificate from GRO - what does certificate look like?

    Hello all,

    Just a quick question: I'm hoping to order a copy of a marriage certificate (marriage was in 1960's) for a neighbour. If I order the certificate for them and wanted a physical paper version (rather than the PDF version), what would it look like?

    Would it be a photocopy of the actual handwritten entry from where the marriage took place, or would it be a typed form with the information filled in from computer records?

    Thanks,
    Mark.

  • #2
    You can only get pdf's for births and deaths. All marriages are printed and mailed. Would likely be a copy of the original entry, but sometimes they are typed. I'm not sure which you will get. I have a death from 1855 that is typed.

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    • #3
      Thanks for that information. Looking at some certificates we've ordered in the past, it seems that there are 3 possibilities now:

      1. It's an A4 sheet that has all the normal "certified copy of..." wording etc and has an image of the entry along with signatures of the couple. It looks like the grainy image maybe comes from a microfiche.
      2. It's an elongated official form (longer than A4) that has been transcribed from original information and filled in by hand.
      3. It's a computer generated form that has all the details but in a typewriter font.

      Maybe it's pot luck based on the original source material.

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      • #4
        An order form the GRO may differ from a certificate ordered from a local office, I have had ones handwritten by a modern clerk at a register office and one digitally reproduced from the original so the original signatures can be seen.

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        • #5
          If I need to see signatures etc., I always order direct from the registration office that holds the originals. That way you can request that they send you a facsimile copy.
          I have some modern English marriage certificates from 1970s through to 1990s and they are all in the long format and all facsimiles of the originals. I got them all from GRO as knowing all the participants, there was no need to compare signatures.
          Last edited by GallowayLass; 27-06-22, 15:05.

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          • #6
            Wherever you order it from the information, and layout will be the same, but if ordering from GRO It certainly won't be a copy of the original register entry - to get that you would have to order from the register office that holds the actual physical register and ask if they can produce a certificate by photocopying the register entry ( they don't have to, but might if asked).

            Retired professional researcher, and ex- deputy registrar, now based in Worcestershire. Happy to give any help or advice I can ( especially on matters of civil registration) - contact via PM or my website www.chalfontresearch.co.uk
            Follow me on Twittter @ChalfontR

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            • #7
              Thank you all. As we know the place of marriage, we can contact the appropriate office to see if they still hold the actual register.

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              • #8
                You may find that they are held centrally, although we have a registrar of births and deaths in my town any copies have to be obtained from West Sussex County Council, and when I needed a copy of my late father's 1996 marriage cert as my 2nd wife had lost it WSCC had not got a copy as the church had yet to fill the register, so I had to order it from the GRO.

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