Nobody has ever been forced to become a Catholic in order to get married in a Catholic church. This seems to be a fairly common belief, but it's simply not true. My father was C of E and was what I believe is termed Anglo-Catholic, ie. very high church. He was willing to get married in a Catholic church because my mother was a Catholic and that was what she wanted. The only thing the Catholic church has ever stipulated is that both parties in a 'mixed marriage' promise that their children will be baptised and brought up as Catholics. My father had no objection to that.
In Liverpool, mixed marriages became common faster than in most places, I am guessing because of the large Irish Catholic migration after the 1845 Potato Famine. One generation on, I have found Catholic marriages to C of E and Methodists in the 1890s onwards. Just thought it might be useful to get the facts straight. Good luck with your search.
