Blog
06 Dec 2010For better or worse? Unusual names in our marriage records
Following last week’s launch of our fantastic new marriage records search, MarriageFinderTM, we’ve found some interesting names in our records. They just go to show that when taking a partner ‘for better or worse’, an embarrassing married name doesn’t put everyone off…
Here is a selection of the names we found in the records:
- Holly Oakes
- Eileen Dover
- Hazel Nut
- Queenie King
- Mona Lott
- Jean Pool
- Joy Rider
- Lily Pond
- Anita Bath
- Candy Barr
- Kerry Oakey
Keeping up with the Mary Christmases
It seems that a large number of Marys have continued the Christmas theme with their name and married someone with the festive surname, Christmas. There are over 50 Mary Christmases in our marriage records – the earliest recorded Mary Christmas married in 1837 in Alton, Hampshire, losing the maiden name of Cannon.
Where for art thou?
We’ve discovered a pair of real star-crossed lovers in the marriage records: in 1971, a Romeo married a Juliet in Lambeth, London. We also found the marriage records of Oscar Fingal Wilde and Constance Lloyd in Kensington, London in 1884, Jude Law and Sadie Frost in Westminster, London in 1997 and Kate Winslet and Jim Threapleton, in Reading, Berkshire in 1998.
With this record I thee wed
Our research found that the most popular county to get married in was Lancashire, with 11.66 million records listed between 1837 and 2005. London followed closely behind with 11.62 million.
The five most popular towns to be married in were:
- Birmingham, Warwickshire: 1,656,516 records
- Manchester, Lancashire: 1,127,584 records
- Sheffield, Yorkshire: 988,541 records
- Leeds, Yorkshire: 980,207 records
- Bristol, Somerset: 899,885 records
Our marketing manager, Debra Chatfield (pictured), said:
“As the first company to publish birth, marriage and death records online, findmypast.co.uk has always been committed to making family history research more accessible. This brand new way of searching the marriage records is a major breakthrough in family history enabling people to find their ancestors’ marriages more quickly and easily than ever before by using our revolutionary new tool MarriageFinderTM. Thanks to initiatives like this, family history is more popular than ever and we hope that we can help even more people to start uncovering their family’s past.”
Debra Chatfield, findmypast.co.uk's marketing manager
When you search our marriage records, MarriageFinderTM will match up your ancestors’ records, providing you in many cases with one definite marriage match, or a list of possible matches.
The launch of these records represents the latest development in our project to fully name index our birth, marriage and death records. We launched the birth records in July 2010 and the death records will follow in early 2011.
Search our marriage records now to find your ancestors’ marriages.
There are 13 ladies with the first name Norah who married a gentleman with the surname Bone.
I had to think twice about Norah and Bone, then realising it was dependent upon a generally southern English pronunciation -
Gnaw’rr a Bone
rather than simply Norah Bone.
Alex Dow
I love the name Fortune Hunter quite common in the north east about 1800
Deborah
This is the first time I have been able to see the name Chatfield!!!!
I have been searching for Dorinda Chatfield who was my ggggrandmother she married William Moss July 16, 1825 in White Chapel, St. Mary’s Church Dorinda was b in 1808 and buried 4 Aug 1833 St. Dunston, Cheam, England she was 25 years old.
I have no idea where she was born but thinking it could be Stepney where they were married there.
I have been looking for her parents for years now (at least 20 years) Course I found William Moss b 1798 in East Ham and d 15 Jan 1837. I have his line back to 1764.
Just wondering if you had any connection to Dorinda???
Dot in New Hampshire, USA
On the “Fortune Hunter” theme from Linda Murphy…I have an Urban Hunter in my tree. As it was quite unusual I thought it was maybe a typo but I have found him in a few censuses!
Birmingham or Coventry area
Tom Russell asking
I bet Urban was a Roman Catholic – it’s unusual as a Christian name but there were a lot of Popes of that name.
When muy ancestor,James Ball married in 1824, his wife became ‘Charity Ball’
While searching through Archives in Southampton, I came across a baptism of a child that had been found on Southampton Common and named May Bush.
Was looking for a Rosina Challis death but found a Golden Challis instead. Thought he was very unusual until I looked at the census indexes and found several children first name Golden in mid-19century (including Golden Ball and Golden King), mostly in Essex.
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