South Africa, Natal Province, Civil Marriages - FamilySearch Historical Records

Title in the Language of the Record
Suid-Afrika, Natal Provinsie Huwelik Index.

Record Description
These records include an index with images of marriage records from the Natal Province of South Africa.

Civil marriage certificates for Natal Province sent to the Registrar General in Pretoria. Marriage certificates may include date of act, date of registration, name of bride and groom, ages, place of marriage, birth place, occupations, and residence at time of marriage. Records are usually filed by date of registration and include registrations of whites, coloureds and Indians. Text of original records is in English or Afrikaans. When searching the index, researchers should be aware that in some instances individuals only have a single name versus having both a given name and surname. Original records are conserved at the National Archives, Pretoria, Republic of South Africa.

Record Content
Marriage records generally contain the following information


 * Date of marriage
 * Full name of bride and groom
 * Ages of bride and groom
 * Occupation
 * Residence at the time of marriage
 * Name of Judge
 * Names of witnesses

How to Use the Record
To begin your search, it would be helpful if you knew the following information:


 * Ancestors name
 * Approximate year of birth
 * Place of birth

Search this Collection
Fill in the requested information in the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information about the ancestors in the list to what you already know about your ancestors to determine if this is the correct family or person. You may need to look at several images and compare the information about the individuals listed in those images to your ancestors to make this determination.

Keep in mind:


 * There may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * Your ancestor may have used different names or variations of their name throughout their life.

Using the Information
When you have found your ancestor's marriage certificate, you can do the following:


 * Use the ages to calculate the birth year from the time of marriage.
 * Use the residence of the bride or groom to search for birth records to indicate if your ancestor was born at the place of the marriage.

Known Issues with This Collection
For a full list of all known issues associated with this collection see the attached Wiki article. If you encounter additional problems, please email them to [mailto:support@familysearch.org support@familysearch.org]. Please include the full path to the link and a description of the problem in your e-mail. Your assistance will help ensure that future reworks will be considered.

Related Websites

 * Africa Websites
 * Africa Historic Maps
 * National Archives and Records Service for South Africa

Related Wiki Articles
South Africa

Citing FamilySearch Historical Collections
Citations for individual image records are available for this collection. Browse through images in this collection and click on the "Show Citation" box: South Africa, Natal Province, Civil Marriages, 1845-1955

When you copy information from a record, you should list where you found the information. This will help you or others to find the record again. It is also good to keep track of records where you did not find information, including the names of the people you looked for in the records.

Citation for This Collection
The following citation refers to the original source of the information published in FamilySearch.org Historical Record collections. Sources include the author, custodian, publisher and archive for the original records.