Hello
All Marriages from 1837 within England and Wales, should be Registered with the Registration District Civil Registrar (under our Registrar General) and also listed on the General Register Office (G.R.O.) Index, separately under both the Marriage surnames.
Both the marriage parties should have the same (matching) District name, Volume and Page Number, in the G.R.O. Index.
The Index is usually enough (along with finding them in the Census and their child/childrens Birth Certificates) to give the information required to order a Copy Marriage Certificate from the General Register Office (G.R.O.) and these can be ordered on the internet from anywhere in the World I believe, to be sent as Pdfs (or by Post).
Here is an 1873 example sent from the District Registrar's Office covering Selby, Yorkshire, England, for a Wesleyan Methodist Marriage
https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=756955.msg6287254#msg6287254(Reply 695)
The Certified Marriage Copy held by the Registrar General (G.R.O.) might be an exact copy sent by the Minister, or hold the same duplicated information, including Witness names, (many of whom are related, or known to one or both of the family marrying).
If familiar with the local Registration process, sometimes we go direct to the District Registrar, but from elsewhere in the World, people seem to have obtained England and Wales Certified Copies from 1837 fairly easily by online ordering (once they have checked the Marriage image is not already online).
Search here (where you can also check the actual images of the GRO Index)
https://freebmd.org.ukFrom 1837 (in England & Wales) a UK Government gov.uk website
https://www.gov.uk/order-copy-birth-death-marriage-certificateSome Parish Church Wedding images are online, but if Nonconformist and not online, then it might be easier to find the Birth, Marriage and Death from 1837 in the Civil GRO Register Index, rather than look for individual Chapel Registers, because there were numerous Nonconformist Chapels all over our Country, in rural country Lanes, or villages, to large towns or cities (where there were often several or many Chapels in an area).
To give some idea 60,000 left one particular Nonconformist sect around the mid 19th Century and either went to break away sects, or to C of E, or other Nonconformist sects, or Quakers, or Jews, or even Catholic.
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Bear in mind if they Married in Scotland or the Isle of Man or outside of England and Wales, a researcher will have to consider a search of these other Registries too.
Once, a correct matching English & Wales Civil Marriage Certificate is obtained, this should also give the Chapel, Register Office, or place etc., where the Marriage took place.
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It is possible my ancestor might have become what is known as a 'Quaker Methodist' and possibly why the Quakers refused his Quaker Membership application in 1836. However, the Quakers buried him in 1845 as
Not in Membership.
I have recently seen some information, indicating some would be at the Parish Church Sunday morning, then at their own Nonconformist Meeting in the afternoon. Some were even trying to draw Anglican / C of E attenders away to their own Nonconformist Meetings.
Mark
