Missing marriage certificate

[Bronwen]

Hello
I am trying to find the marriage certificate for Francis Bell born 1832 married to Mary Bell born 1833 married i think 1854. i need this to find Mary,s maiden name. They had lots of children and appear on census but i cannot find marriage anywhere. i would be most grateful for any help thank you Bronwen

[Pamelawagster]

Can you tell us where they lived?

Childrens names & DOB.

Which census did you find them?

[christanel]

Welcome to the Brit-Gen forums Bronwen
As Pamela has said we do need some dates and places to separate your Francis Bell and Mary from the others. Who thought there would be 12 of them in the 1861 census although only three with a wife Mary?
There is a marriage in 1854 in Caistor Lincolnshire registration district with a Francis Bell and a Mary Taylor on the same page but this is just guess work until we have some children's names so we can use the GRO index to find their birth registrations. FreeBMD doesn't give the mother's maiden name prior to 1911 but the GRO index gives the mother's maiden name from 1837 onwards which will help when the place of birth is known.
Christina

[Pamelawagster]

Also on the same page on the Caistor marraige is a Mary Haycock.The Lincolnshire marraiges & banns has Francis Bell marrying Mary Haycock.

But until OP comes back with some dates & places then I’m still not sure this is the correct couple!

[almach]

Also on the same page on the Caistor marraige is a Mary Haycock.The Lincolnshire marraiges & banns has Francis Bell marrying Mary Haycock.

But until OP comes back with some dates & places then I’m still not sure this is the correct couple!

The 1861 census has a Geo ACOCK [sic] lodging with Francis and Mary.

As you say Pamela, this may not be the right couple.

[Bronwen]

Francis was born in Benwell Northumberland
the 1871 census shows them living in Seaton Delaval Northumberland with the following children
Matthew Bell 1853
Margaret Bell 1858
Francis H Bell (my gt,gt grandfather) 1865
Mary Bell 1870

thanks very much for your assistance Bronwen

[Pamelawagster]

Those childrens birth registrations have a MMN- of Belam ( mistranscribed?) / Bolam.

Possible marraige.

Francis Bell
1852
Jul-Aug-Sep
Newcastle upon Tyne
Northumberland
Volume: 10b
Page: 69

On the same page is Mary Bolam

[Bronwen]

Wow this is fantastic

[Pam Downes]

Bronwen,

If you are new to genealogy, two sites you need to bookmark are FreeBMD and the GRO's own website.
https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/search.pl
https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/c...ates/login.asp
Neither site has a complete (and accurate!) index of all the BMD registrations since civil registration began in England and Wales on 1 July 1837, but FreeBMD has most of the original indexes up to 1983, with the years to 1992 currently being added. The GRO website has details missing from the early indexes (age at death to 1866, mother's maiden name to 1911) but has no marriages in its indexes. However, you still order copies of marriage certificates (as well as birth and death certificated) through the GRO - helped with details such as volume and page number, etc, found on FreeBMD. With some of the earlier birth and death registrations you can opt to receive a black-and-white PDF copy for £7. There is a radio button to select if this option is available.

If people married in a CofE church copies of marriage certificates in the parish register might be available on Findmypast or Ancestry which saves you having to buy a copy from the GRO for £11. Unfortunately I can't see the marriage of Francis and Mary on either site.
Both sites offer a free 14-day trial. Both sites might also be available at your local library for free, though some records are not available in the 'library' version.

[Bronwen]

thank you so much for all your help