Virginia, County Marriage Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

What Is in This Collection?
The Virginia, County Marriage Records, 1771-1943 collection consists of images of marriage records from county courthouses. The records include registers, bonds, licenses, and returns. This collection includes the following counties:


 * Accomack
 * Franklin
 * Giles
 * Rockingham
 * Westmoreland

The content and time period varies by county.

Coverage Map
To see a coverage map of FamilySearch's holdings of Virginia marriages, click here.

What Can This Collection Tell Me?
The following information may be found in the records:


 * Marriage date
 * Marriage place
 * Names of the bride and groom
 * Name of the clerk or the person performing the marriage

Later records may also include:


 * Name of the parents of the bride and groom
 * Ages
 * Birthplaces
 * Marital status
 * Residence of bride and groom (some later records also give birth date)
 * Occupations

How Do I Search the Collection?
To use these records it is helpful to know:


 * The name of the person at the time of marriage.
 * The name of the intended spouse.
 * The approximate date of marriage.
 * The place where the marriage took place.

View the Images
View images in this collection by visiting the :
 * 1) Select County
 * 2) Select Record Type, Year Range, and Volume number or letter to view the images.

How Do I Analyze the Results?
Compare each result from your search with what you know to determine if there is a match. This may require viewing multiple records or images. Keep track of your research in a research log.

What Do I Do Next?
When you have located your ancestor’s marriage record, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details that can lead you to other records about your ancestors. Add this new information to your records of each family.

I Found Who I Was Looking For, What Now?

 * Use the marriage date and place as the basis for compiling a new family group or for verifying existing information.
 * Use the birth date or age along with the place of birth of each partner to find a couple's birth records and parents' names.
 * Use the birth date or age along with the place of birth to find the family in census records.
 * Use the residence and names of the parents to locate church and land records.
 * Occupations listed can lead you to other types of records such as employment or military records.
 * The name of the officiator is a clue to their religion or area of residence in the county. However, ministers may have reported marriages performed in other counties.
 * Compile the marriage entries for every person who has the same surname as the bride or groom; this is especially helpful in rural areas or if the surname is unusual.
 * Continue to search the marriage records to identify children, siblings, parents, and other relatives of the bride and groom who may have married in the same county or nearby. This can help you identify other generations of your family or even the second marriage of a parent. Repeat this process for each new generation you identify.

I Can't Find Who I'm Looking For, What Now?

 * Look for variant spellings of the surnames.
 * Look for an index. There are often indexes at the beginning of each volume. Local genealogical and historical societies often have indexes to local records.
 * Search the indexes and records of nearby counties.

Record Finder

 * Consult the Virginia Research Tips and Strategies and its Record Finder to search other records

Citing This Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image.

Collection citation for "Virginia, County Marriage Records, 1771-1943":

Record citation (or citation for the index entry): Top of Page