* New format marriage certifcates in England and Wales from May 2021

[Peter Collier]

I was reading elsewhere with interest about the changes to marriage certificates that came in to effect from May this year in England and Wales: inclusion of both parents etc. I've been scouring the web trying to find an image/sample copy of one but to no avail. Has anyone else found anything they could point to?

To keep this on topic, I'm going to pretend this is so I can prep a source template and a data entry assistant for the new expanded format. Although, to be honest, it's more just curiosity on my part at the moment as I dont yet have any post-May 2021 English/Welsh marriages to record.

[mjashby]

Peter,

The guidance document (pdf) linked here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... the-clergy has various sample documents in the appendices.

Mervyn

[Mark1834]

I think I remember reading at the time that this was the first electronic recording of marriages, and up until this year all records were kept on paper. Don’t expect to see them online anytime soon.

[Gowermick]

I just spotted the surnames of the mothers are shown by their married names, and not their maiden names. GRO missed a great opportunity there to help genealogists.

[GeneSniper]

Wow didn't realise this information wasn't available on English wedding certs, All of the wedding certs I have are scottish and this information was already on them

I just spotted the surnames of the mothers are shown by their married names, and not their maiden names. GRO missed a great opportunity there to help genealogists.

As I said above never realised that this information wasn't on English certificates as it has always been on any Scottish certificates I have, in fact on my certificate from 30 or so years ago even has my wife and I's date of birth

[Peter Collier]

I had occasion to look up some Scottish birth certificates recently. They are a veritable mine of information and better than their English & Welsh counterparts by a very long way.

[AntonyM]

I just spotted the surnames of the mothers are shown by their married names, and not their maiden names. GRO missed a great opportunity there to help genealogists.

One of the rules of registration (in E/W) is that a person's name should always be recorded as the name "they use or are known by" at the time of the event being registered.

(would have been nice though)

[AntonyM]

I think I remember reading at the time that this was the first electronic recording of marriages, and up until this year all records were kept on paper. Don’t expect to see them online anytime soon.

The real practical change is the ending of the use of marriage registers - under the old system, the information would be recorded in the register at the ceremony, signed by the parties and witnesses and certificates copied out and issued there and then. The information was then transferred to the registration computer system (RON) afterwards to allow easy production of further certificates later on.

Under the new system there is no physical register any more, just a schedule that is signed. No certificates are issued at the ceremony. The schedule is then deposited at the registration office and the details transferred onto the computer (as before) ....then the certificates are issued and sent out, or collected by the couple.

The new certificate format is A4 portrait, the same as birth and death ....an example ( for Boris) can be seen here:

https://salten.cz/2021/06/20/boris-john ... rtificate/

Interesting that both seem to have opted to leave their parents details off the record ( it isn't compulsory to include them, and never has been).

[Mark1834]

His reflex reaction is to deny fatherhood...

[ColeValleyGirl]

Veering a little off topic here... let's keep to using FH for Genealogy?