Genealogy Chat

Is it possible for some marriages not to be listed on the gro references. I have searched for the marriage of my great grandmother and great grandfather, but have been unable to locate one. I am presuming they were married as my g grandmother has my g grandfathers name on my grandfather birth certificate and also his twins middle name is clearly taken from the father. Obviously it is possible they never married, but I am quite positive they did married. Can anyone help or give me any ideas on how I can trace it. Thanks

All C of E marriages and Register office ones are registered by the vicar/registrar as a matter of course. Catholic, Jewish and other denominations have not always followed this. Could this be the case with you?? Maybe it was a 2nd marriage for her and you are looking under the wrong surname?? Maz. XX

I have tried searching by the mothers name and the fathers and have had no luck. Perhaps i should go back a few more years with the father just to be sure, as I suppose they could of been an older couple.

Hi, Siobhan, The GRO marriage indexes are compiled from returns sent in by the places licensed to carry out marriages. Obviously, most of these were Churches, although there were Registered Buildings for Civil Marriages from 1837 onwards. There must be a possibility that a few returns were not made. That would create missing certificate numbers which should have been noticed by the local Registrar. If he didn't realise what had happened, presumably his return to HQ would have included only what he had received. I don't know whether anybody has tried to research this. It would require access to the actual local register office records, as is being done in Cheshire BMD, Lancashire BMD, and Yorkshire BMD, and then a comparison with the Parish and other Church records. I think it would be easier to examine the Parish and Church marriage records themselves first, if you have a reaonably short time period and a limited choice of Church. Hard luck if it is central London! Best wishes Stan

Is it possible that a name on the marriage certificate is different from that on the birth certificate My grandfathers mother was Annie on his birth cert, but Joanne on their marriage cert. and they were married in a different place to where I was expecting.

Siobhan, yes it is possible for the marriage not to have appeared on the GRO index. If you think you know where the marriage took place you could try the local register office and see if they will do a search for you, or try looking at the parish records for the church in question. It is also worth checking to see if they got married after the first child was born. Goodluck Ros

i thought about checking for a marriage after my grandfather was born but then it wouldn't of given her name as Clarke on the birth certificate. They lived in Highgate london at the time, but my g grandmother gave birth to my grandfather and his twin in birmingham, so there are links in both of these large places, which is making it difficult to trace.