Search British Newspaper Marriage Notices

Each record consists of a transcript and original image of the newspaper page where the marriage notice was published. Marriage notices were submitted to newspapers after the marriage had taken place. They contained the details of the newlyweds, oftentimes alongside the names of their parents, and the location where the wedding service was held. By investigating the original newspaper image, you may even learn the name of the officiant who conducted the service and the occupations of those in the wedding party.

The amount of information included in every marriage notice will vary, but you will be able to uncover a combination of the following:

• First and last names
• Marriage year and marriage date
• Marriage place
• Marriage county and country
• Residence place
• Residence county and country
• Spouse’s first and last names
• Spouse's residence place
• Spouse’s residence county and country
• Parents’ first and last names
• Spouse’s parents’ first and last names

You can also find the following information about the publication in which the marriage notice appeared:

• Page number
• Publication date and year
• Publication title
• Publication town or city
• Publication county
• Publication country
• Publisher information

These marriage notices have been sourced from our collection of newspapers from across England, Wales, and Scotland, and span the 19th and 20th centuries. Marriage notices often sat alongside other types of family notices, such as notices of births and deaths, and in memoriam notices. Whilst the early press did contain such announcements, it was not until the 19th century that these types of notices became more formalised.

As the amount of newspapers increased in Britain, and literacy rates improved, readers were encouraged to submit notices of family events for a fee. Indeed, the fact that these announcements had to be paid for would often affect the phrasing and the length of the notice. This economic factor also means that not all of the population would have been able to afford the insertion of their important life events into the press.

However, you will find that many newspapers often devoted multiple columns to their notices of births, marriages and deaths. They appeared as a recurring feature in daily and weekly publications, and their popularity endures even today.