An index to all marriages recorded in England and Wales up to around 1970 can be searched at FreeBMD. Marriages up to 2005 can be searched at FindMyPast and Ancestry.

Step 1: Narrow Your Ancestor's Marriage Details

If you do not currently have a rough idea of your ancestors year of marriage, the 1911 census will list the number of years a couple had been married. If they were not alive for the 1911 census, but were for an earlier census, the year of marriage is likely to be 0-3 years before the birth of the first child. Keep in mind that a husband may have married twice and had children by multiple women. The maiden name of a wife can be obtained by ordering a birth certificate for one of their children.

If you believe the marriage of an ancestor took place after 1911, you can search the index of births for a couple's children. Entries in the index will list their mother's maiden named, thus helping you to locate a marriage. N.B. that you should order a copy of a birth certificate to ensure you have the correct family.

To locate your ancestor's entry in the marriage indexes, you will need to know their name and rough date and place of marriage.

For the purpose of illustrating the process through which a marriage certificate is ordered, we will continue the research of the Jones family we have followed throughout this guide. From the 1911 census we learned that John Llewellyn Jones' parents were married around 1899 and John Llewellyn's Jones' birth certificate informed us that his mother's maiden name was Murchey.

Step 2: Search the Marriage Index

Navigate to: http://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/search.pl

From the type select box, choose 'Marriages.'

Enter the name of either the bride or groom in the 'Surname' and 'First name(s)' fields and the name of the other party in the 'Spouse/Mother surname' and 'Spouse first name(s)' fields; consider omitting middle names due to spelling variations. It is best to use the most uncommon name in the first field, as up to 1911, the marriage index only lists the name of one party who was married.

In the date range, enter several years each side from when you think the marriage occurred.

You may also want to enter a county or counties to search. Although I suspect John Jones and Margaret Murchey were married in Shropshire or Denbighshire, I do not know, so will select 'All Counties.'

You may also wish to select 'Phonetic Search surnames' from the options, which will search for similar sounding surnames.

When you have entered the relevant details, press 'Find.'

Step 3: Select the Relevant Entry

Results matching your search query will be returned, listing: surname, forename(s), the district the marriage was registered in and a reference to the volume and page it occurs on in the marriage registers.

Note down the year, quarter, district, volume and page numbers, then click on the glasses next to the entry.

You will be directed to a new page. Click on the 'View the original' graphic on the left-hand side.

This will open or download an image of the original birth index. Locate your ancestor in the image. Next to their name you will find two alpha-numeric values. These are the volume and page your ancestor's marriage occurs on in the marriage registers. This information was provided on the previous page, but it is essential to check the original image in case of a transcription error. Also record the date (which is found on the page's header.) and the district.

N.B. That the marriage index does not include the name of both parties, though from 1911 the spouse's surname was listed. The way FreeBMD returns marriages when both parties of a marriage are supplied is by looking for volume and page numbers that include both names you searched for. Thus, it is possible results will be returned that are not actually a match.

Trouble Locating the Correct Entry

If you cannot tell which entry in the index is your ancestor because you are not sure where they were married, you can apply for a search if you have the father's names of the parties. But the General Register Office will only search over a period of three years, e.g. 1901-1903. Local registrars will generally offer more liberal searches of their records.

If you know/suspect where your ancestors were married, but there are multiple results in that location, you can, as mentioned above, supply details of the parties' fathers, if you know their names. Alternatively, you will need to order the certificate from the local registrar, who will perform searches based on other information. Most registers of marriages are held by county councils, but cities and unitary authorities have their own registrars. If in doubt, their staff will be able to help you locate the correct authority. The relevant page on the authority's website can be located by searching the web for [copy marriage certificate {county or city}].

N.B. The General Register Office will not refund you if they cannot find a certificate.

Step 4: Ordering

In our example we have found there is only one marriage for a Margaret Murchey anywhere in the county in the period stipulated. It occurred in the Ellesmere registration district, which is only a few miles from where they lived in Oswestry. The details are:

• District: Ellsemere
• Quarter: Dec 1899
• Volume & Page: 6a, 1504

Certificates can be ordered online, by phone or by mail. If you wish to order by phone or mail, contact details can be found on the General Registrar Office's website.

If you wish to order online, you need to create an account on the General Registrar Offices' website.

If you already have an account you can skip this part

If you do not have an account on the website, fill in your details, as illustrated below:

Press 'Submit,' which will redirect you to the following page:

Where it reads 'For events registered in England and Wales,' select 'Marriage Certificate (England & Wales).' If you were able to find the volume and page number in steps 2 and 3, select 'Yes' near the bottom, where it says 'For all events,' and enter the year the marriage was registered in the box below. Else select 'No' and enter the approximate year in the box below.

Press 'Submit,' which will redirect you to the following page if you know the volume and page numbers:

Fill in the details you extracted from the marriage index in steps 2 and 3.

If you don't know the volume and page number, you will be directed to the following page:

Select whether you would like your certificate to be delivered the next working day (priority) at £23.40. A standard order will be delivered in four working days if the page and volume numbers were supplied and within fifteen workings days if they weren't.

Press 'Submit,' which will direct you to the following page, where you specify the address you wish the certificate to be delivered to:

Press 'Submit,' which will redirect you to the following page where you can review your order:

If you are happy to proceed, press 'Checkout.' You will be directed to the following page:

Pressing 'Proceed with payment' will direct you to enter your payment details.

Your certificate will arrive in one or more days and look something like:

The certificate matches with the details we found in the 1901 and 1911 censuses; that is that John Jones was born cira 1872, the son of Henry Jones, farmer and that Margaret Murchey was born cira 1876. This seals the relationship between John Jones and his father, Henry who we found in the 1901 census. We also have Margaret Murchey's father's name, which will help locate her in the census and birth records.