This is all getting a bit confusing. I understand it like this:
After 1837 marriages could take place in a registry office, parish church, or non-conformist church. I think each church sent a copy of the record to their local office, and they are now also all together at the General Record office too.
If a marriage took place then it should be recorded in those records, and they have been indexed by name, year and quarter. The indexes can be seen at your local records office or via Ancestry etc.
FreeBMD site has a lot of the marriages in their database so you can search on there for free (tells you year and quarter, and names of other people on the same page so you can often work out the spouse) http://www.freebmd.org.uk/
BMSGH has information about marriages in that area and if you find a record listed it will tell you the name of the spouse, year, and which church or registry office. http://www.bmsgh.org/wmbmd/index.html
The BMSGH list is from the local registry offices' records, not the general index. That is why it gives the name of the spouse and the church. The coverage is not complete but the website will show what is available.
The FBMD list is not complete either, but almost so for early years, and the site shows what the coverage is.
If you can't find a marriage on FreeBMD or BMSGH then you could go through the indexes which are on Ancestry - each quarter of each year has the names listed alphabetically so unless you know the exact year you have to seach systematically through a range of years (backwards from birth of first child perhaps).
A marriage might be listed under a variation/mis-spelling of the surname.
The couple might have married earlier or later than expected - possibly several years later.
Or they may never have married at all!
In theory though, if they married then they are in the GRO index for marriages.
*TBC Archive? * Marriages in Registry office query
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Re: Marriages in Registry office query
"The present is the key to the past" - Charles Lyell
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Re: Marriages in Registry office query
Thank you all for your patience - I've got it now so unless I have confused anyone else along the way
Completed
Completed
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Re: Marriages in Registry office query
Maths girl wrote:Thank you all for your patience - I've got it now so unless I have confused anyone else along the way
Completed
yep all of us



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Re: Marriages in Registry office query
In theory though, if they married then they are in the GRO index for marriages.
Yep! Should be

I have a cert from a registry office dated 1871, the first child born 1864 last one 1869. Each child has the maiden name as a middle name. Poor lady died the year later.
I also have another marriage cert and most of the info is wrong


Jo

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Re: Marriages in Registry office query
Is this completed MG?
Jo:)
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