What do you do next if you find 2 or 3 possible marriages on the igi in the same area around the same time?

Question

when trying to locate yours ancestors (pre civil registration)?

Answer 1

I'm not sure what igi is but this has happened to me a few times.

1. Keep an open mind. It is possible that they are marriages for individuals with the same name but not the same person, or that each of the marriages is correct - either through death, divorce, or some form of polygamy or that the marriage is correct but the date isn't.

2. Try to find verifying records - birth or death records of children (news, church, parish), census records, church records, land records etc.  

Answer 2

You would need to check the parish records for more information. You may be lucky enough to find an occupation, part of an address, status, such as widow or names of witnesses. Other avenues are to check the banns or licence applications where you might find more background details. Taking a look at the birth registers can be helpful in distinguishing one family from another although it may well be that cousins will share the same name which can be a help

Answer 3

Look at the original church registers and hope that they specify the parish of residence, occupation or age of each party (many 1754-1837 registers do, depending on the vicar) or pray that one or both of the witnesses (possible sisters, brothers, fathers etc) might help you choose between multiple entries.