On 14 Apr 2011 at 12:06, John Richardson wrote: > Hello the list, > > Now that the GRO have ceased searches when ordering certificates; I > wondered if there was any way in which I could get information on the > Bride and groom ages without ordering a certificate? > The obvious method, surely, is via the censuses. Find the marriage with FreeBMD, Ancestry or Findmypast and then look for them in the next available census, Of course, this is only valid for marriages before the 1911 census. But as you don't give us a clue what period you are talking about, this is all I can suggest up to that period. If you mean a marriage after 1911, then it becomes more difficult, rather depending on how common or uncommon the surnames are. Ancestry, Findmypast and The Genealogist have all indexed births and marriages from 1837 to more or less the present day, so if the names are fairly uncommon you may be able to identify one or both parties to a marriage and find them in the birth indexes. A common surname makes it a lot more difficult, of course. If you were looking for my marriage and birth year, to give a simple example, then it would be dead easy because I am the only one of my name who has ever been born in the UK, as far as I know. But if you're looking for a John Smith who married a Maisie Brown, you have a problem! However, you will have to take out a subscription or buy pay-as-you-go units from one of the above websites. -- 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