Genealogy Chat

Sam, Oh! I see! Cheers, Horatia

I did but it said at this current time we are unable to accept payment by Visa Electron, and I am not one for credit cards etc!

If you use the proper GRO website they accept cards. http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/ Cheers, Horatia

I found the marriage through searching marriages and got the possitive one, but I need the certificate for the more detailed information ie the fathers names and occupations. I have the reference for it so I shall be sending off for it, but the only one dissapointment I did have was that they will not accept my card online, so now I will just have to wait even longer for them to receive a cheque. I just hope my patience pays off!

You can't look at marriages from Registry Offices, you have to buy the certificate. Also marriages that recent won't be in the parish records at the Records Office anyway, even if it was in a church.

Thanks sam, that has verified what I thought I was going to have to do in the first place. I think it would be nicer to have the certificate as a record for myself anyway, so that shall be my first on my to do list. Thankyou

Telephone rang and Heather beat me to the nudge... anyway it's there now :o)

Thanks a lot for all your help and the laughs! I have just been searching to find where my nearest place may be but am not sure. They married in a Registry office so I was told in 1984, and it is in the SE Hants district - but cannot find where I should be going to take a look. Does it cost a lot to view as it says you need someone for the day?

Nudge is just a term for adding a new message which will then 'nudge' the thread to the top of the board. Ill see if I can also nudge some stuff up for you.

Hi Samantha, Yes, you can view marriage certificates. They are usually on microfiche or microfilm. I've saved a lot of money that way. The only problem is that you need to have a good idea where they married. If it's a small village then that's easy; but if they married in London it could be a nightmare because there are sooo many churches within a short distance from each other. If a couple married in a registry office you won't find that on parish records. You'd have to visit the Registrars Office (different from a Records Office which is sometimes referred to as an archive). Other than that, you can't see birth certificates or death certificates at Record Offices - only baptisms and burials. Hope this helps but if you want further info - just shout and I'm sure others will chip in and add to my comments. Cheers, Horatia

Should add Samantha that sometimes the marriages in Records offices might not come up to the present day very much. The church tends to surrender the records for microfilming when the book is full. But very old marriages (1500s - about 1901 or so) are usually at the Record Office - it varies from parish to parish. Cheers, Horatia

Also you will need to visit the Records Office for the area where the marriage happened, they don't hold records for the whole country. Sam x

Nudge means to post something to a thread so that it comes to the top of the board)

I have very minimal information so far for my family tree. I keep reading about people visiting records offices. Now if you visit a records office, does the records show you the same information you would find on a marriage certificate, rather than what just comes up on the internet - ie fathers names and occupations etc? There are several marriages I need the details on, but was hoping I might be able to get away with not paying for the certificates - and just viewing them. Is this where I go for this? Sorry I do not know a lot about this, and I am started to get hooked on finding out what I need, and an answer to this question would help me get well on my way. Thankyou.

thankyou - sorry what do you mean by nudge? I really am new to this and haven't got a clue, but I am finding so many helpful and useful people on here and its brilliant.

The local Records Office hold copies of all important documents for that area. These include the Parish registers. From these you can get nthe information as written down by the clergyman who conducted a baptism, burial or marriage. later ones contain more information than earlier ones. Early records tend to say something like 1st July 1796 Jane d of John and Alice Smith for a baptism... it can take some working out whether you have the correct Jane! You do need to know what parish you are searching and a rough idea of dates. the Parish Registers are often, but not always, available on microfilm or fiche and you will need to telephone your record office to book a reader to view them. the best bet is to give them a ring and ask... they are very helpful useful. I will nudge the Newbies Tips thread for you. There is loads on there hat will be helpful to you,