Hi Carole A (perhaps) surprising number of couples did not actually marry. But there are other reasons why you can't find the record you are seeking. Some of these are: The marriage does not appear in the GRO index because it was "lost in transmission". The process of collating and transmitting information from the place of the marriage, to the local registrar, then the superintendant registrar, thence to the GRO and within the GRO to the final index was prone to errors and omissions at each stage. It has been estimated that as many as 10% of marriages have failed to end up correctly indexed. The marriage is there, but one or both parties married under unexpected names. The marriage took place many years after you would have expected it to. This is by no means uncommon, and one should certainly never assume that a couple married before the birth of their first child. The marriage may have taken place in another country. Don't forget that, from the point of view of civil registration, Scotland and Ireland are separate countries. I you would like to post the details of the couple you are struggling with (preferably with as much background information as you can), it is possible that a pair of fresh eyes may help. Best wishes Caroline > > Thanks for going to the trouble for me Caroline. It has answered a > number of > questions, I will have a look on the Catholic site, I have had no luck > with > the civil registration search. I don't believe the couple I am > interested in > married, they are on the censuses though. > > Thanks again > > Carole >