England & Wales marriages
1837-2005
useful links & resources
You can also browse Birth, Marriage and Death indexes from 1837-1983
How will these records help me?
Findmypast.co.uk has developed what we think is the easiest and fastest marriage search anywhere online. We have created MarriageFinderTM: a highly intelligent search facility which enables you to find a marriage by searching just once, not twice.
One search per marriage
Previously you had to search for both spouses separately and match them up yourself as the records were not name-indexed. Now, not only can you perform just one search, MarriageFinderTM will actually match up your ancestors' records, providing you with one definite marriage match, or a list of possible matches.
When you receive a definite spouse match, we will also provide you with the volume number and page number for both spouses' records. These are essential when ordering marriage certificates, so this will save you time.
To demonstrate how powerful the search is, we searched for 'John Smith' with 'Jane Jones' as his spouse across all counties and years. Even with these extremely common names, MarriageFinderTM found all the potential spouse combinations.
Search across all years
Findmypast.co.uk is the only place you can search the 1837-2005 marriage records all in one go. This means you will no longer need to enter a quarter and date range. To be able to search all years simultaneously is a major breakthrough in marriage searching, especially in cases when the marriage occurred earlier or later than you expected it to. Our vastly improved search will save you so much time and effort.
Solve your marriage mysteries
MarriageFinderTM also means the end of mystery marriages. If you only know one partner's name, search for their details and MarriageFinderTM will find all the possible matches. You can then view a record to check it is your ancestor. Alternatively, if you know the first or last name of the spouse, enter this information in your search to get an even more accurate list of spouse matches.
Gender recognition
Our intelligent search also identifies genders. In a list of possible spouse matches, your results will be ranked in order of their likely gender: people of the opposite sex at the top of the list, and people of the same sex at the end of the list.
For more information about how to search these records and how your results will be presented, click the 'search tips' tab above the search box.
Different results for subscribers and PayAsYouGo users
Your marriage results will be displayed differently depending on whether you have a subscription or use PayAsYouGo credits.
If you have a subscription: if we find a definite match, we will show you the records of both spouses on one page including original images.
If you are a PayAsYouGo credits user: your results will show you the person you searched for and links to the records of any definite or potential matches. You can then choose to view these records for five credits each.
The birth, marriage and death records from 1984 onwards were recorded in a computer database only so there is no original image for records post-1984.
Do you have Irish ancestors? Search for them in our Irish birth, marriage and death records
How to search the marriage records
We only need the last name of an ancestor to start searching these records for you. This is the only required piece of information, everything else is optional.
It's always best to start searching with basic information, like your ancestor's first and last name. If there are too many results, you can refine your search and add more detail.
You can click the 'refine search' button on the search results page to return to this search box and add more information.
If you know who your ancestor married
It's best to start with basic information, but if you know who your ancestor married you could use this to narrow down your search results.
Enter both partners' names in the relevant search fields and click the 'search' button. Findmypast.co.uk will only show you records that match both of the names you've entered.
If you know a woman's married name, but not her maiden name
If you know a female ancestor's married name, it means you actually know her husband's last name and her first name. It's easy to search findmypast.co.uk's marriage records with this information.
Here's an example:
Our ancestor's married name was Mary Fringe. We don't know what her maiden name was.
What we actually know here is a piece of information about Mary's husband and a piece of information about Mary. We know his last name was Fringe and that her first name was Mary.
You can therefore enter Fringe in the 'last name' field and Mary in the 'first name(s) of spouse' field, as the image shows below:
Understanding your search results
Your search will return a list of individual names, matching the information you've entered.
If you've entered spouse details in your search, your results will include a 'marriage matched' column. There are three levels of match:
= definite match. This person definitely married someone with the name you've searched for.
= potential match. There are a number of possible partners for this person and one matches the name you've searched for.
= potential match. There are a number of possible partners for this person and one matches the name you've searched for, but the person appears to be of the wrong sex.
What a marriage record will tell you
- Your ancestor's first names and last name
- The geographic place, year and quarter in which the marriage was registered
- Who your ancestor married (usually a definite name for records after January 1912 and a list of potential spouses for records before that date)
- Volume and page numbers that can be used to order a copy of the couple's marriage certificate
Can't find who you're looking for?
- Try leaving the 'county' field blank. Your ancestors may not have married in the place you would expect, so you could be excluding relevant results by selecting the wrong county.
- Don't select a year range, or make the year range wider. The year you think your ancestors married may not be accurate, so you could be excluding relevant results.
- Keep the 'include variants' boxes underneath the name fields ticked. This means your search results will include spelling variations of the names you've entered.
- If your ancestor's name could be easily misspelled, try using a wildcard search. Just use a * symbol in place of a letter or multiple letters. For example, instead of searching for Jennings you could search for Je*ngs or *enning*.