Just to clarify on this: Since 1837 churches have had to keep two copies of each marriage register. At the beginning of January, April, July and October the minister has to send a return to the local superintendent registrar of all marriages in the preceding quarter. The return may in practice be completed by a parish clerk, but it has to be signed by the minister. The layout of the form is more or less identical to that of the marriage register. The superintendent registrar collates the forms from his/her district and sends them to the General Register Office. Copies of these returns might be kept at the register office (I don't know), but even if they are, they can't be used to produce certificates: a certificate produced by anyone other than the GRO can relate only to an entry in a register. (Have you ever noticed - GRO certificates are "Certified to be a true copy of an entry in the certified copy of a register of Marriages in the Registration District of ....", whereas those from a local registrar or a minister are "Certified to be a true copy of an entry in a register in my custody".) Since a superintendent registrar cannot issue a certificate relating to an entry in a register which he does not have, as long as the marriage registers are still in use certificates can be obtained from the minister of the church concerned. However, since they don't have the right equipment, ministers would not be able to provide a certificate showing an original signature. When church marriage registers are full, one copy has to be deposited with the superintendent registrar and the other one remains the responsibility of the minister and local church. It is recommended, and usually happens, that it is then deposited in the Diocesan Record Office - usually the County Record Office. Arthur ----- Original Message ----- From: "Brenda" <ellis-b@sky.com> To: <west-riding@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, August 24, 2007 6:58 PM Subject: Re: [WRY] Local REgistry Office vs General Registry Office > Hello Judith > I was talking about the Parish Register which is kept in the church. In a > book I have on this subject, it states that the parish clerk made a copy > to > send to the registry office. If you are lucky you will get a copy from the > parish register, but otherwise you will get the copy the parish clerk > wrote > out. > In my own case, my signature & that of my husband is in the Church's > register. The copy we were given to keep had been written out previously, > with our signatures copied & only the two witnesses signed again. > Regards > Brenda