Hi, this document is a marriage certificate
Actually, strictly speaking, it isn't. It's from before the start of statutory civil registration in 1855, before which there was no such thing as a marriage 'certificate'. It's useful to understand the difference between pre- and post-1855 records.
What you have here is the record of proclamation of banns in the parish kirk of Dundee. Each line on the page refers to a different couple.
The kirk required to make sure that the couple were free to marry. This involved their names being proclaimed three times at services in the parish kirk. If no-one came forward with a valid objection to the marriage, the wedding could then go ahead. In some parishes all you get is the names of the couple and the date on which the proclamation of banns was recorded by the clerk.
Dundee is one of the parishes where you get not only the record of the proclamations, but also the actual date of the wedding and often the name of the bride's father.
Post-1855 certificates contain a lot more information - exactly where and when the wedding took place and by which religious denomination, names, ages, marital status and occupations of bride and groom, full name and occupation of the bride's father, full name and maiden surname of the bride's mother, who performed the ceremony and names of witnesses, date and place of registration, and signature of registrar. The details evolved over the years, so that for example from 1939 the witnesses' addresses are included, and from the mid-20th century the couple's dates and countries of birth.
