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 significantly complete registration was reached by 1930.

Some people in Ontario 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.

From 1858 to 1869, the province required the counties to keep marriage registers. Clergymen of all faiths were supposed to record information from their parish registers in county marriage books.

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.

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

Record Content
Marriage records may 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
To begin your search, it would be helpful if you knew the following information:


 * Name of bride or groom
 * Approximate year of marriage
 * Place of marriage

Search the 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. 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.

As you are searching it is helpful to know such information as your ancestor’s given name and surname, some identifying information such as residence and age, and family relationships. Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name as your ancestor and that your ancestor may have used nicknames or different names at different times.

For tips about searching on-line collections see the on-line video at FamilySearch Search Tips.

Using the Information

 * If you find a marriage in the district or county registers, see if you can find it in the Ontario, Roman Catholic Church Records (FamilySearch Historical Records).
 * Use the birth place information, and the name of the mother and father to search in the Ontario Births (FamilySearch Historical Records) collection for the birth place.
 * Use the age of the bride and groom to calculate a birth year.

Unable to Find Your Ancestor?
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.

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

 * Canada History Links
 * Canada Historic Maps
 * Ontario Vital Statistics

Related Wiki Articles

 * Ontario
 * 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.