Source Information
About England & Wales, Marriage Index: 1916-2005
Country wide civil registration of births, marriages and deaths commenced on 1 July 1837 in England and Wales. Registration took place at local civil registrars who in turn reported to the Registrar General at the General Register Office (GRO) in London. This national index to vital records is an essential source of genealogical information for family historians.
Since the original birth, marriage and death registers are not open to the public, getting access to the information on one of these certificates is done by first searching the national birth, marriage and death indexes that have been created by the GRO for this purpose. The indexes for the three events are divided into volumes by year following which entries are listed alphabetically. Once an entry in one of the indexes is found, you are then able to use that information to order a copy of a death, marriage or birth certificate from the GRO. Information that can be obtained from the marriage index includes:
- Full name of individual
- Surname of spouse
- Month and year of registration
- Registration district (each county in England and Wales was divided up into registration districts. Jurisdictions are organized and appear as they existed at the time the record was created)
- Inferred county (the county is inferred based on what counties the registration district covered)
- Volume number
- Page number
Note: The district listed is the district where the event was registered, not necessarily the location where the event actually occurred.
This database contains only the index to the marriage registers of 1916-2005.
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Related data collections
England & Wales, FreeBMD Marriage Index: 1837-1915
This database is a searchable, digitized version of the indices of civil registrations in England and Wales, reported quarterly to the General Register Office (GRO) in London. This index spans the years between 1837 and 1915. You need the information found in an original index to request a copy of a marriage certificate for the individual referenced.England & Wales Marriages, 1538-1940
This database contains information extracted from marriage records from selected various counties in England and Wales. The records date from 1538 to 1940. The records included in this database do not represent all localities in England and Wales and for any given area, coverage (both records within a year and total year range) may not be complete. Some parishes and counties are more complete than others.England & Wales, Birth Index: 1916-2005
This database is a searchable, digitized version of the indices of civil registrations in England and Wales, reported quarterly to the General Register Office (GRO) in London. This index spans the years between 1916 and 2005. You need the information found in an original index to request a copy of a birth certificate for the individual referenced.England & Wales, Death Index: 1916-2005
This database is a searchable, digitized version of the indices of civil registrations in England and Wales, reported quarterly to the General Register Office (GRO) in London. This index spans the years between 1916 between 2005. You need the information found in an original index to request a copy of a death certificate for the individual referenced.