Would you order a marriage cert...?

[dawnsh]

Just to let you know that if you chose to order the certificate from the General Register Office using the volume and page numbers, you WON'T get the option to name the fathers as a reference check. This service stopped 3 years ago.

You can order certificates without the volume and page numbers but you have to specify the date and place of the marriage as well as the fathers names

Quote from the GRO ordering page

Date of marriage (dd/mm/yyyy)*
(If you do not know the exact date enter 01/01/1877, we will search the specified year and one either side)   
Place of marriage *

The * indicates that these are mandatory fields, the fathers names are not.

This service can take 15-21 working days

[netgrrl79]

Just to let you know that if you chose to order the certificate from the General Register Office using the volume and page numbers, you WON'T get the option to name the fathers as a reference check. This service stopped 3 years ago.

You can order certificates without the volume and page numbers but you have to specify the date and place of the marriage as well as the fathers names

Quote from the GRO ordering page

Date of marriage (dd/mm/yyyy)*
(If you do not know the exact date enter 01/01/1877, we will search the specified year and one either side)   
Place of marriage *

The * indicates that these are mandatory fields, the fathers names are not.

This service can take 15-21 working days

Thanks dawn, I was aware of that. Would I be able to order the cert direct from Neath with the proviso that I only want it if the father's name matches?

[dawnsh]

You should be able to.

Explain that you have a possible marriage December quarter 1877 and that the groom may be John Thomas. Could they check the entry and supply the cert if Elizabeth's middle name is Ann (the entry could be Alice or something else) and the father's name is Morgan. I wouldn't mention his occupation as it may be liable to change.

You could contact them in advance and just check that this is ok. If it is, they will do the search and get back to you. All being well the entry matches and you get the cert. If it doesn't you should get your money back but don't expect them to tell you what doesn't match. They are under no obligation to tell you.

They may also charge you for the search,

Dawn