Cof E registers

[colwyn]

Does anyone know if CofE marriage registers are open to public viewing or is it at the discretion of the local church ?
All the records I would like to view are from 1901 to 1952 and I believe all the people are now deceased .

[Pam Downes]

I don't know the answer if the PR is still held by the local vicar but many PRs for that period (and later) have been deposited with the county/relevant local archives, so I'd try there first.

I know that you can ask the vicar to search the register for you (that I suppose is presuming you can't visit the church yourself) and there is a statutory charge. Will try to find the details in a minute.

Do you want a copy of the PR entry, or just the details in the document? If the latter, try FreeREG.
Some images up to 1911 (possibly later) may be available on FMP or Ancestry.

Depending on what you want to find out, don't forget to try the newspapers. All of the British Newspaper Archive except the most recent updates are available on FMP. Obviously coverage varies from county to county but I've found loads of stuff regarding my relatives doing minor things in the 1950s, so they're well worth checking out.

Pam

[Pam Downes]

Ooh, I think I've learnt something today.

I always thought the fee was charged for the vicar to look through the PRs, but it might also apply for a member of the public to search as well. From the table of fees

Statutory fees are only prescribed for matters in respect of whichparishioners have a legal right.

However the fee for searching the marriage register specifically refers to marriages prior to 1837.Again from the table of fees, note A2.

The search fee relates to a particular search where the approximate date of the baptism or marriage is known. Thefee for a more general search of a church register is negotiable.

https://www.churchofengland.org/site...s_table_a4.pdf

Pam

[Guy Etchells]

Yes ever since 1644 Parish Registers have been open for "...and also the names of all persons married there and the time of their marriage ; and also the names of all persons buried in that parish, and the time of their death and burial ; and that said book shall be showed, by such as keep the same, to all persons reasonably desiring to search for the birth, baptizing, marriage, or burial of any person therein registered, and to take a copy or procure a certificate thereof."

Or as the Marriage Act 1949 states- "63.-(I) Every incumbent, registering officer of the Society of Friends, secretary of a synagogue and registrar by whom a marriage register book is kept shall at all reasonable hours allow searches to be made in any marriage register book in his keeping, and shall give a copy certified under his hand of any entry in such a book, on payment of the following fee, that is to say-
(a) for every search covering a period of not more than one year, the sum of one shilling, and for every search covering a period of more than one year, the sum of one shilling for the first year together with an additional sixpence for every additional year; and
(b) for every certified copy, the sum of two shillings and sixpence.
(2) The last foregoing subsection shall apply in the case of a registered building for which an authorised person has been appointed with the substitution for the reference to the incumbent of a reference to the person having the custody of a marriage register book in accordance with regulations made under section seventy-four of this Act."

Cheers
Guy

[colwyn]

Thank you Pam and Guy for your responses. I have searched on line for these marriages without any success and the local archives do not have the records . So I will have to get the details from the church. I have been in touch with the church now and have been informed that I cannot view the registers without a church official being present and a fee applies or if I provide the details they will do the research for me and the same fee applies (£20 per hour).