Record columns
Reading a marriage register, column by column
A marriage entry names two families at once and, after 1837 in England and earlier elsewhere, both fathers. It records whether each party was single or widowed, where they lived, whether the marriage was by banns or licence, who witnessed it, and whether each person signed or made a mark. Printed forms (from 1754 in England) make the columns regular; before them the same facts are in a sentence.
- Date
- 1500s onward; printed forms from 1754 in England
- Columns
- 16
- Handwriting
- The officiant's hand for the entry and the parties' own for the signatures — the only place an ancestor's handwriting may survive. A shaky signature is still a signature.
The columns in order
| # | Column | What it holds |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Entry no. | The register's own running number for the year. |
| 2 | Date of marriage | The ceremony date; the banns were read on three earlier Sundays. |
| 3 | Groom's name | Full name; a title (Mr, Esq) marks status. |
| 4 | Groom's age | "of full age" means 21 or over; "minor" under 21; a number is rarer before 1850. |
| 5 | Groom's status | Bachelor or widower ("b.", "w.", "viduus"). |
| 6 | Groom's residence and occupation | "of this parish", "of Ashby, labourer". |
| 7 | Groom's parents | Names, sometimes with whether living or deceased ("def." or a cross). |
| 8 | Bride's name | Maiden name; "widow of" marks a remarriage. |
| 9 | Bride's age | "of full age" means 21 or over; "minor" under 21. |
| 10 | Bride's status | Spinster or widow ("sp.", "wid.", "vidua"). |
| 11 | Bride's residence | "of this parish" or the home parish. |
| 12 | Bride's parents | Names, sometimes with whether living or deceased. |
| 13 | Banns or licence | By banns (read in church) or by licence (paid for, often by families of means or in haste). |
| 14 | Witnesses | Two or more names; a witness is often a sibling or a parent, and a repeated witness across many entries is the parish clerk. |
| 15 | Officiant | The priest or minister, usually a signature or initials. |
| 16 | Signatures or marks | A signature, or "X his mark" / "her mark" for those who could not write. |
What to watch for on this form
- "Of this parish" is a residence; a bride "of this parish" was usually married in her own church.
- Bachelor / spinster / widower / widow (b., sp., w., wid.; Latin caelebs, vidua) tell you whether to look for an earlier marriage.
- Witnesses are frequently siblings and parents; a witness who appears in entry after entry is the parish clerk.
- An X between the given name and the surname ("John X his mark Smith") is a mark, not an initial.
- By licence suggests means or haste; by banns, three Sundays' notice in both parishes.
Abbreviations and marks
- do / " / „ — ditto — the same as the line above
- Hd — head of household
- Wf — wife
- Dau — daughter
- S-in-L — son-in-law
- Bdr — boarder
- Svt — servant
- Na / Pa / Al — naturalized / first papers / alien
- O / R — home owned / rented
- F / M — free of mortgage / mortgaged
- W / B / Mu — white / black / mulatto in the color column
- S / M / W / D — single / married / widowed / divorced
- x, / , 1 — a tick in a yes/no column
- 2/12 — two months old
- Pa, O, Va, Ind, Ky — state abbreviations in the birthplace column
Type one person per line with cells separated by a tab or a |, in the column order above. Blank cells may be left empty; write [illegible] where you cannot read. The CSV is built by the same code the app uses for its export.
Questions
- What is the difference between banns and a licence?
- Banns were announced in church on three Sundays before the wedding and cost nothing; a licence was bought from the bishop's office and skipped the waiting. Licence records (allegations and bonds) survive separately and often give ages and parents.
- Why is one parent marked with a cross?
- A cross, "dec.", "def." (defunctus) or "late" before a parent's name means the parent was dead at the time of the marriage.
About this page
Column lists follow the printed schedule or register form; descriptions are in our own words from the National Archives' census instructions to enumerators, the FamilySearch Research Wiki and the usual parish-register handbooks. This is the same column list Cursive Lens reads the page against; a test in the app fails if the two ever disagree. Last reviewed 2026-10-17.