Hello, all! Does anyone have easy access to microfilm for NSW marriages? I have found a marriage in 1843 for Alexander MAINE to a Catherine DOLAN in the online index. Indicates the marriage was Roman Catholic and at St. Mary's, Sydney (there does not seem to be a civil listing). It is a long shot for me, so I thought I would ask the list before I spent my $26 plus currency conversion cost. Thanks so much! Kim Raine Vermont, USA

Hello Kim, The registration of marriages in NSW commenced in 1856 and the records before that time are only from the churches and contain far less detail than the civil record. The entry for Alexander Maine and Catherine Dolan both of Sydney shows the marriage at St Mary's Church Sydney on 7 September 1843. The witnesses were Batholomew Shea and Honora Shea and the minister's name was H G Gregory. There is a notation at the bottom of the page which says "Witnessed all the above signatures and marks J Grant of Sydney". Mr Grant appears as the witness to several other marriages at the time so he may have been a sexton. Alexander Maine is not shown as a communicant of the church whilst Catherine did not sign her name, only gave put a mark. Bartholomew was the only person to sign his name besides the minister. Before buying certificates from the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages, you may care to know that many researchers are now availing themselves of one of three transcription services when getting details from the civil registration in NSW of births to 1905 and marriages and deaths to 1945. This is because they are cheaper - $A16 against $A24, the transcribers are family historians and are more likely to notice small nuances in the records, the turn around is much faster (usually 3 to 4 days) and you can order the transcriptions by email. The websites of these are: www.marbract.com.au, www.joymurrin.com.au, home.primus.com.au/lturtle/. I personally use Marbract Services and found them to be quite satisfactory. In one case, I ordered a transcription for a person who had previously ordered one through them and they put me in touch with that person. I guess that the other two transcribers would do the same as well. Regards...Rex Toomey Port Macquarie NSW Australia -----Original Message----- From: Kim Raine [mailto:kimesl@gmavt.net] Sent: Saturday, 7 May 2005 3:19 AM To: AUS-NSW-NORCO-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [NORCO] Marriage St. Mary's Hello, all! Does anyone have easy access to microfilm for NSW marriages? I have found a marriage in 1843 for Alexander MAINE to a Catherine DOLAN in the online index. Indicates the marriage was Roman Catholic and at St. Mary's, Sydney (there does not seem to be a civil listing). It is a long shot for me, so I thought I would ask the list before I spent my $26 plus currency conversion cost. Thanks so much! Kim Raine Vermont, USA ==== AUS-NSW-NORCO Mailing List ==== Check out the books page on Bellingen Gen Web. Can you transcribe an index? See: www.rootsweb.com/~nswbelli/books.html and http://www.rootsweb.com/~nswbelli/transcribe.html ============================== Search the US Census Collection. Over 140 million records added in the last 12 months. Largest online collection in the world. Learn more: http://www.ancestry.com/s13965/rd.ashx