How can I find a marriage license? Ancestry.com?

Question

Hi,

My mother really realy wants me to find out whether or not her mother and father were actually legally married. Someone in the family searched public records at the courthouse and couldn't find the license for my grandmother and grandfather. Then someone searched the church where they got married and no record there either. The marriage probably occured around 1931.

Is there a free place online that will let you search marriage licenses? Or do I have to sign up with ancestry and buy their package?

Thanks.

Answer 1

I'm not sure about Ancestry.com, but if you went to the county courthouse and the church where the marriage was supposed to have happened and there was no record, then I'd say it looks slim that your grandparents were legally married. I'm not completely sure, but I think back then "commom law" marriages were acknowledged more, so maybe that is what happened. If you can't find the legal records, then no website will be able to either, so save your money.

Answer 2

UK answer.

If you would like to email me the names, I would be quite happy to see what I can find for you, I have world deluxe membership with ancestry.com and often do look ups for people.

Answer 3

While theres no free place, Id recommend going to http://www.v1g.org before ancestry. This website has about 3x the amount of data, and is also cheaper.

Answer 4

Ancestry.com may help.  If you give us their names, we can look it up for you.  If you have checked the church and the civic records and can't find anything, they may not have been married.  However, in the 1930's it is very unlikely that they would have lived together as husband and wife without getting married.  Odds are that their families would have frowned upon it.  It was very socially unacceptable.  Do you have the dates right?  You may have to expand your search both date wise and geographically.

You can also check baptismal records of their children - it would state if they were married or not.