Thanks to all who responded -- another example of keeping me on the straight and narrow. You all are really a great help. BTW I have long understood about certain info being available only from the certs, but occasionally, I've found that there are a few on these lists who actually seem to have access to the registers. It's happened three times over the past 12 years. Always off list. So, no harm in asking. MEJ in Calif

Just to clarify, the church registers for Church of England parishes held at the London Metropolitan Archives *are* available via Ancestry. Marriage register entries from 1 July 1837 onwards are identical to the civil registration certificates available via the GRO, so if a marriage took place between that date and 1921, in the Established Church, then one can often bypass the certificate purchasing route. But this does not apply to marriages in other faiths and denominations, nor to civil marriages (which became more and more popular towards the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries), or to those which took place in parishes whose registers are not held by the LMA (such as the City of Westminster). Church records of baptisms and burials, however, are very poor substitutes for civil registration certificates. A large minority of children were not baptised at all, and baptism registers (except in a very few cases) do not provide mothers' maiden names. Burials are even less helpful, as the London church yards were closed in the mid 19th century, after which most people in the metropolis were buried in out of town private or municipal cemeteries. The LMA has only very limited holdings of cemetery records. Hope this helps Caroline > > BTW I have long understood about certain info being available only > from the certs, but occasionally, I've found that there are a few on > these lists who actually seem to have access to the registers. It's > happened three times over the past 12 years. Always off list. So, no > harm in asking. > > MEJ in Calif >