Search Monmouthshire marriages and banns

Each record comprises a transcript and black and white image of the original register. The amount of information listed varies, but the records usually include a combination of the following information about your ancestor:

Banns transcript

• First name(s)
• Last name(s)
• Spouse’s first name(s)
• Spouse’s last name(s)
• Banns year
• Banns date
• Parish
• Spouse’s parish
• Marriage year
• Marriage place
• County
• Country

Banns image

The image may contain additional details, including

• Marital status
• Spouse’s marital status
• Dates of three banns
• Officiating minister

Marriage transcript

• First name(s)
• Last name
• Birth year
• Spouse’s first name(s)
• Spouse’s last name
• Bride’s age
• Groom’s age
• Bride’s father’s first name(s)
• Bride’s father’s last name
• Groom’s father’s first name(s)
• Groom’s father’s last name
• Parish
• County
• Country

Marriage image

Many of the records also contain images. The image may include additional details, including:

• Bride’s marital status
• Groom’s marital status
• Bride’s occupation
• Groom’s occupation
• Bride’s residence
• Groom’s residence
• Bride’s father’s occupation
• Groom’s father’s occupation
• Witness names
• Officiating minister
• Banns or licence

The banns collection comprises almost 37,675 records from 60 parishes in Monmouthshire. These records cover more than two centuries. For marriages, there are more than 261,040 records from 160 parishes in Monmouthshire. These records span almost four centuries.

Monmouthshire

Monmouthshire is one of 13 historic Welsh counties and a former administrative county. The historic county of Monmouthshire corresponds approximately to the present principal areas of Monmouthshire, Blaenau Gwent, Newport, and Torfaen, as well as those parts of Caerphilly and Cardiff east of the Rhymney River. It borders Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Brecknockshire, and Glamorgan. The administrative county of Monmouthshire was abolished two years after the Local Government Act 1972, and most of the area became part of the new local government and ceremonial county of Gwent. The current unitary authority was formed in 1996 as a successor to the district of Monmouth, in addition to the Llanelly community from Blaenau Gwent, both of which were Gwent districts. The unitary authority of Monmouthshire covers around 60 percent of the historic county but only 20 percent of the population.

Banns

An ancient legal tradition, banns are an announcement in church of a couple’s intention to marry. The reading of the banns provides an opportunity for anybody to put forward a reason why the marriage may not lawfully take place. Banns must be read in the parish (or parishes) in which the couple lives and in the parish they will marry, on three Sundays in the three months before the wedding, unless the couple got a licence. It’s important to note that banns only state an intention to marry; the posting of the banns doesn’t necessarily mean the marriage took place.