Hi My name is Maria and I was wondering if there is a marriage index for Shropshire about 1856 I have just found my John Richards' first wife dying in Victoria in 1870 and it says they were married 14 yrs all I have is a first name Mary John Richards was the son of Richard Richards and Ann Groom he was born 1812 in Clive. I have no idea when or where he came to Australia On his death Certificate it just says place of birth England parents names and not much else. Nothing about his first wife not even a name Any help would be appreciated Maria from colyton NSW --- avast! Antivirus: Outbound message clean. Virus Database (VPS): 0616-3, 20/04/2006 Tested on: 21/04/2006 10:36:08 AM avast! - copyright (c) 1988-2005 ALWIL Software. http://www.avast.com

Hello Maria There is no need for a Shropshire Marriage Index for any marriage after 1837 because they will all be included in the Civil Registration Indexes. These can be viewed on several pay-per-view web sites or you might be able to look at them at your local library. Alternatively your local library may have microfiche copies of these indexes. The main problem is going to be isolating your John RICHARDS and Mary amongst all the others. You need to establish as close as possible the date that they might have got married and it would help if you had some indication of where. Best of luck. Mike ______________________________________________________ maria skwierawski wrote: > Hi > My name is Maria and I was wondering if there is a marriage index for Shropshire > about 1856 > I have just found my John Richards' first wife dying in Victoria in 1870 > and it says they were married 14 yrs all I have is a first name Mary > John Richards was the son of Richard Richards and Ann Groom he was born 1812 in Clive. I have no idea when or where he came to Australia > On his death Certificate it just says place of birth England parents names and not much else. Nothing about his first wife not even a name > Any help would be appreciated > Maria from colyton NSW > > > --- > avast! Antivirus: Outbound message clean. > Virus Database (VPS): 0616-3, 20/04/2006 > Tested on: 21/04/2006 10:36:08 AM > avast! - copyright (c) 1988-2005 ALWIL Software. > http://www.avast.com > > > > > ==== ENG-SHROPSHIRE-PLUS Mailing List ==== > TO post a message to the list for *every* subscriber to read, please *always* use - > ENG-SHROPSHIRE-PLUS-L@rootsweb.com > > ============================== > Find your ancestors in the Birth, Marriage and Death Records. > New content added every business day. Learn more: > http://www.ancestry.com/s13964/rd.ashx > > > >

Hi Maria I see your predicament. On the Free BMD there are 47 John Richards marrying a Mary between March 1855 and Dec 1857. None of them, as I recall, within Shropshire. Nothing much on the British Vital Records either, and of course the IGI shows a vast array of couples who probably don't fit. Some couples who might fit are those married in Herefordshire, Worcestershire, etc. close by. But then, no point ignoring the fact that if John was intending to come to Australia he might have gone up to Liverpool to ship off as was the intention of many Shropshire folk and met his Mary there, or even down to London and married there! Again, there are some in the Free BMD and the IGI who might fit at or around 1856 in both areas. I am also wondering if on the Australian death certificate the 14 years of marriage might have been misinterpreted or miswritten? Considering the age of John, born 1812, could it be that the marriage length might have been 24 years and not 14? Though I expect you could work that out to your satisfaction by checking on the children's ages at the time of Mary's death. Anyway, just a thought. Cheers Graham Melbourne.