Can someone please advise me on finding a MARRIAGE record?

Question

I'm looking for the marriage of John SALTER (born 1844 in Chislehurst, Kent) and Henrietta ________ (born 1844 in Woolwich, London).

The first child that I know of was born in 1864, so assume they would have married before then. John and Henrietta are in the 1881 census as husband and wife, living with their 6 children in Plumstead, London. BUT I've searched through FreeBMD, even up to their year of birth, but can't find anything.

I suppose Henrietta could have been her middle name, or she went by a middle name when she married, but I wondered if anyone else had any ideas. I know that FreeBMD isn't complete yet, so is there anywhere else I can look for marriage records?

ALTERNATIVELY, does anyone know if it's possible to search for all Henriettas born in Woolwich in 1844? Perhaps I might have some luck there, but FreeBMD won't let you search without a surname.

Answer 1

Perhaps contacting the historian of the town and asking where marriage certificates are kept at the local level?

Answer 2

Using www.ancestry.co.uk I have searched the marriage indice from 1860 - 1864, I found only two London area marriages for John Salter, these took place in Shoreditch and Chelsea.

The image for the J/F/M quarter for 1864 has the  initial S missing completely along with a few others. I have just sent them an email to report the problem.

I think you are going to have to trust your instinct on this one as you don't have a maiden name for Henrietta, it wasn't until the September  quarter 1911 that this information was included on the index. So unless you know the name, it would be like looking for a needle in an haystack. If you would like the GRO numbers for these two London marriages I will edit my answer.

Are you aware that girls could marry at the age of 12, and boys at 14  with parental consent right up to 1929 when it was raised to 16 years of age. Its worth checking the marriage index that far back I found  a marriage between a 12 year old and a 14 year old in my family.

Hope this helps.