Find your ancestors in Lincolnshire marriages

Each record includes an image of the original register and a transcript of the most important details. The information found in each record can vary depending the age and condition of the original record. Most records will include a combination of the following:

• Name
• Sex
• Age
• Birth year
• Residence
• Marriage date
• Marriage place
• Spouse’s name
• Spouse’s age
• Spouse’s residence
• County and country
• Father’s name
• Spouse’s father’s name
• Archive

Discover more about these records

Parish registers of marriages began in 1538 when it was required that all parishes keep records of vital events. Over the centuries, the laws related to the recording of marriages developed in order to help prevent bigamy and clandestine marriages. After the 1753 Marriage Act, all marriages, except for Quaker and Jewish marriages, were to take place and be registered at the local Church of England parish. By 1836, those of other faiths, such as Roman Catholics and nonconformists, were allowed to register marriages, which would be legally recognised. If you cannot find your ancestor within the Lincolnshire marriages, try the England & Wales non-conformist marriages.

Search through Findmypast’s newspapers to discover more about your ancestor’s wedding day or to reveal mysteries from your family tree. In 1903, the Nottingham Evening Post reported a strange Lincolnshire marriage story. Albert Holliday was summoned to court for desertion of his wife. He did not deny the desertion and went on to explain that he was only 18 at the time of the marriage and his bride was 30. In fact, the bride was actually 24. Holliday was influenced by his mother to enter into the marriage because she believed the young woman had inherited £2,000. Albert’s mother tempted the woman to leave her home in Alkborough and her job as a nurse to move to Scunthorpe. However, after the wedding, the family discovered that the bride did not have any money. Then she was deserted by her new husband. Albert Holliday was ordered to pay 5 shillings per week for maintenance. In the Lincolnshire marriages, we can find the parish marriage register of Albert William Holliday to Edith Wigley, age 24, at St John’s church in Scunthorpe.

More than 650 marriage places can be found in these records. We have provided a full list of the Lincolnshire parish registers places to assist you with your search. St Botolph in Boston and St Wulfram in Grantham registered the most marriages with over 59,000 marriages between them. St Botolph in Boston is the widest and tallest parish church in England. Known as the ‘stump’ to Bostonians, the church is supposed to have been built on the site of a monastery founded by St Botolph in 654 AD. Lincolnshire is bordered by eight counties: Rutland, Nottinghamshire, Norfolk, East Rising, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, South Yorkshire, and North Hamptonshire.