Canada, Ontario Marriages, 1869-1927 - FamilySearch Historical Records

Record Description
The collection covers marriages from 1869 to 1927.

Registration of marriages began as early as 1801 in various districts and in counties formed from those districts. Province-wide registration by civil authorities of births, marriages, and deaths officially began in Ontario on 1 July 1869. A substantially complete registration was achieved by 1930.

For a limited period of time prior to 1858, clergymen of faiths other than Anglican and Roman Catholic were asked to record marriage information in district marriage registers. Not all clergymen complied.

Some Ontarians were married in the United States because requirements were less strict there than in Canada.

Only a few marriages were reported to district authorities between 1801 and 1831. Many more marriages were recorded in district marriage registers between 1831 and 1857. By 1858, the counties had become functioning governments in southern Ontario, and marriage registers were kept by counties.

Civil authorities requested local clergy to turn in copies of their marriage records to local governments. Copies of these copies were then made and forwarded to district or county authorities. Those copies were then copied into register books. Therefore, the register books are a copy of a copy of a copy of the original church records. Mistakes could have been made at any step in the process.

For more information about Ontario Marriages, see the article [Ontario Vital 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.

Record Content
Key genealogical facts that are found in this collection usually contain the following information:


 * Full name of groom
 * Full name of bride with maiden name
 * Occupation of groom
 * Age of bride and groom
 * Name of father for bride and groom
 * Name of mother for bride and groom
 * Date and place of marriage
 * Place of birth for bride and groom

How to Use the Records
Beginning Your Search

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


 * Ancestor's name
 * Place of marriage
 * Approximate year of marriage

Searching the Index

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 compare the information about more than one person to find your ancestor.

Using the information
 * If you find a marriage in the district or county registers, see if you can find it in the church records.
 * Use the birth place information, and the name of the mother and father to search in the Ontario Births, 1869-1912 collection for the birth place.
 * Use the age of the bride and groom to calculate a birth year.

Can't Find Information?
 * At certain periods of Ontario's history, only certain denominations were allowed to perform marriages. In many cases individuals were married by a priest or minister of a religion other than their own.
 * Not all early marriage registers are indexed.
 * Only a few marriages were reported to district authorities between 1801 and 1831.

Related Websites
Ontario Vital Statistics

Related Wiki Articles

 * Ontario
 * Ontario Vital Records

Citing FamilySearch Historical Collections
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A suggested format for keeping track of records that you have searched is found in the wiki article Help:How to Cite FamilySearch Collections