On 2 Apr 2010 at 13:10, Keeling wrote: > Hello, I'm new to this list and am wondering whether SKS can help me. > > I have found what I believe to be, a 2nd marriage of my Gt Gt > grandfather, Isaac KEELING to a Sarah FORD 18 August 1833. I found > this on Ancestry and the source citation is as follows: - Place > Bristol; Collection St James. If anyone has access to the Parish > Records for this I really would be pleased if you could tell me what > is the stated condition of Isaac eg Widower and also whether or not > his father's name is William. > The register will very likely say that he was a widower, if that was the case, but if you are expecting the entry to give the name of his father, then forget it ! Names of parents did not appear in marriages until after the advent of civil registration on 1st July 1837, and even after that date you only get the names of the fathers, not the mothers (in England and Wales, that is, the Scottish system is rather better and does show them from 1855 onwards). In 1833 you can expect to find the following information in a marriage register..... Names of the parties. Whether "of this parish" or the name of the parish if one of the parties came from a different one. Bridegroom's occupation. Marital status, i.e. bachelor, spinster, widow/widower, etc. Signatures of the bride and groom and witnesses (often they signed with a cross if illiterate). Name of the officiating minister. It's a common misconception among beginners that marriage registers before 1837 gave the names of parents - hardly ever. -- Roy Stockdill Genealogical researcher, writer & lecturer Newbies' Guide to Genealogy & Family History: www.genuki.org.uk/gs/Newbie.html "There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about." OSCAR WILDE