Genealogy Chat

Hi everyone
Is there any way I can view a marriage certificate on screen without actually ordering it from the GRO (maybe not via Genes Reunited but are there other ancestry sites where you can view certs if you pay the relevant subscription?). I'm fairly sure this particular one is not my relative but I'd like to view it to rule it out. It's just remotely possible that he was living in a place that I did not expect him to be in at that time.
Thanks in advance
Regards
Christine

Some of the London marriages can be viewed on Ancestry.

If the people are not living, would you like to give some names and dates and location and maybe people here can help?

Gwyn

Hi Gwen,
Thanks for your reply. I don't have a subscription to Ancestry but I'm thinking about taking one out as most people seem to recommend it.
It actually concerns my late father and his first marriage (before he married my mother). I've resisted the urge to find out more until now when my curiosity is getting the better of me. He never mentioned it to me when he was alive but my mum once let it slip when I was in my early 30s. She said he married when he was 20 and his wife was 18 but they divorced after 5 yrs as she left him for someone else. I can only find one possibility but a few things seem wrong - the wife would have been 5 yrs older (not 2 yrs younger), Dad would have been 19 not 20 and the marriage was in Cannock rather than West Ham.
My Dad was born in 1922 so I guess his first wife could still be living - although quite elderly by now (late 80s early 90s). What do you think?

Silverbirch,

Just a general word of advice. For BMD certificates for events that took place in England or Wales only order online from www.gro.gov.uk or from the relevant registry office. All the other sites offering certificates charge considerably more than the GRO.

Ok thanks for the advice. I think I'll try to look on Ancestry first to see if I can rule it out. I'd rather not pay for a certificate if it turns out to be a complete stranger. Of course, I know sometimes you have to do that. If so, I'll definitely order it from GRO.
Regards

You won't be able to see such recent marriages on Ancestry.
If you think it was a Church wedding ( C of E) you might be able to find a record in an archive local to the event, but they would be sorted by parish, so it could be a long haul looking for the correct record.

Sometimes a 2nd marriage certificate will refer to the spouse ie.........
....previously the wife of (or husband of ....) whoever......

Often marriages were near the bride's home, so you may have found the correct one on the index.
Ages were often 'adjusted' to make them seem more suited to the age of the spouse.

If you want to click on my name and send a private message (PM) I will take a look if you send a few details of what you know.


Gwyn

OK, thanks very much Gwyn. I have sent you a PM.

Whilst the 'more recent' marriage indices are not on Ancestry they are FindMyPast and GenesReunited. And with their marriage matching and uncommon names (if you are lucky) you should be able to tie down exactly the one reference for ordering on the GRO.

But other than old London marriages on Ancestry where some of the parish register entries look remarkably like the box in the middle of a marriage certificate you can not see England an Wales certificates online.

I think in Scotand you can buy a computer version of the certificate for genealogy in PDF or something. But you still have to pay and find the correct references first.

Mark.

Hi Mark,

Thanks very much for the information, which was very useful. I have Scottish ancestry too so I may need to look into buying the PDF-format certs at some point. Hope they are a bit cheaper than the £9.25 for the E&W ones.

Regards
Christine

BMD's are on Ancestry up to and including 2005

When and where did your parents marry?

Where was your father born?

Did he serve in the armed forces during WW2?

Scottish BMDs can be viewed and downloaded from scotlandspeople. You buy credits (30 for £6). To view the list of results from a search costs 1 credit and to view an entry costs 5 credits. So, it can cost as little as £1 to download the info. For statuatory records what you view and download is a page from the original Register. There are restrictions on downloading more recent bmds but you can order a cert for these - costs £10.

Also, Scottish registers contain more info than English & Welsh ones. Birth certs give the date and place of parents' marriage and death certs give parents names.

Hi Flick
Thanks for your post.
My parents married in 1958 in Montreal, Canada (so my dad would have been divorced from his first wife by then of course)
My dad was born in Canning Town (West Ham) in 1922
I don't know what he did in WW2 but I think he was in the RAF (not as an officer or pilot though).

Potty - thanks for the info on Scottish BMDs - very useful.

Regards
Christine