The official records of our ancestors’ marriages, along with those of their baptisms and burials, were first kept in England and Wales in 1538, as a result of Thomas Cromwell’s ‘Order for Keeping Parish Registers’.
About these early registers
As with the other entries in our earliest parish registers, records of marriages were sparse in detail. Before the mid- 18th century, it is relatively unusual to find more than just the names of the bride and groom (by default the groom’s name appears first) and the date of the marriage.
If one or other of the parties belonged to a different parish, this was often recorded and likewise, if one of them had been married before, the word widower or widow might be added but in most cases only the names are recorded.
In fact, remarkable as it may seem, it’s not uncommon to find just the name of the groom recorded in the early years.
Barebones Parliament-era registrations
In August 1653, another Cromwell, Oliver (soon to become Lord Protector), was instrumental in the passing of another significant piece of legislation. ‘An Act touching Marriages and the Registring thereof; and also touching Births and Burials’ was passed by the short-lived
