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

Canada Ontario

What is in this Collection?
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.

What Can this Collection Tell Me?
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 Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search it is helpful to know:
 * The name of your ancestor.
 * The approximate date of marriage.
 * The place where the marriage occurred.
 * The name of the intended spouse.

Search by Name by visiting the Collection Page: 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.

View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Page: To search this collection you will need to follow this series of links: ⇒Select "Browse Images" on the initial search page ⇒Select the "Record Type" category ⇒Select the "Year" category ⇒Select the “Registration Number Range" category which takes you to the images

Search the collection by image, comparing the information with what you already know about your ancestors to determine if the image relates to them. 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.

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

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?

 * 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).
 * You may also be able to find your ancestor in the Ontario, County Marriage Registers or the Ontario, District Marriage Registers. Make sure to gather anything that may give additional information about your ancestor.
 * 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.

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

 * 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.
 * Many people crossed the border and got married in the United States. A common place for people from Ontario to go to get married was Michigan, St. Clair, Port Huron. Some records from this area can be found in the Michigan Marriages collection.

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.

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: Record Citation (or citation for the index entry):

Image Citation: