Search Surrey Strays Marriage Index

Each record comprises a transcript of the original index. The amount of information listed varies, but the records usually include a combination of the following information about your ancestor:

• Groom’s first name(s)

• Groom’s last name

• Groom’s place / parish

• Marriage year

• Marriage date

• Marriage place

• Bride’s first name(s)

• Bride’s last name

• County

• Country

• By licence or banns

The record set comprises 8,588 records from 26 counties in England, Wales and Scotland.

These records date from 1565 to 1846.

In genealogical terms, strays are marriages that took place outside an area (in this case Surrey), but where one of the parties was born in or came from that area or had some connection to the area.

Included in these records is Elizabeth Bennett, but she didn’t marry her Mr Darcy; she married William Walton on 11 July 1833 instead. There are three Elizabeth Taylors, but none of them married Richard Burton. And of the 93 Catherines included in these records, not one of them walked down the aisle to Heathcliff or Prince William.

Counties included in these records

Bedfordshire

Berkshire

Buckinghamshire

Cambridgeshire

Derbyshire

Dorset

Essex

Hampshire

Hertfordshire

Isle Of Wight

Kent

Leicestershire

London

Middlesex

Norfolk

Oxfordshire

Pembrokeshire

Rutland

Somerset

Suffolk

Surrey

Sussex

Warwickshire

Wiltshire

Yorkshire

Two records from Scotland also appear.

Surrey

Surrey is a county in the English southeast. It’s one of the home counties (the counties of the southeast and east of England that surround London). Surrey borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The county town of Surrey is Guildford. Surrey is split into 11 districts (ten of which are boroughs), namely, Elmbridge, Epsom and Ewell, Guildford, Mole Valley, Reigate and Banstead, Runnymede, Spelthorne, Surrey Heath, Tandridge, Waverley and Woking.

Three London boroughs (Lambeth, Southwark, Wandsworth) and parts of Lewisham (Hatcham) and Bromley (Penge) were included in Surrey until 1889, when the administrative county of Surrey was formed. In addition, Croydon, Kingston upon Thames, Merton, Sutton and Richmond upon Thames were part of Surrey until 1965, when Surrey gained Spelthorne from Middlesex. Following the Local Government Act 1972, administrative counties were abolished and replaced by non-metropolitan counties. The boundaries of the non-metropolitan county of Surrey were the same as those of the administrative county, except for Gatwick Airport and some surrounding land, which was moved to West Sussex.