Boyd's Marriage Index is an index to English marriages taken from copies of parish marriage registers, Bishop's Transcripts and marriage licences, for the period 1538 to 1840 (when statutory registration began). It was principally the work of Percival Boyd, MA, FSA, FSG (1866 to 1955) and his staff. It was made at his expense between 1925 and 1955, and has since been expanded.
All English counties are covered, none completely (some, eg. Cambridge, are almost complete), and the periods indexed vary according to the copies of records which were readily available. Registers from over 4,300 parishes have been indexed, a total of over 7 million names.
The index is particularly important to anyone researching East Anglian ancestry for not only is the coverage almost complete (over 95% of all the ancient parishes are included), but little of this data is available anywhere else (for example, the International Genealogical Index has very limited coverage of this area).
The Index Series
The Index is divided into the following three series:
- Main Series - contains records for the following counties:
Cambridgeshire, Cornwall, Cumberland, Derbyshire, Devon, Durham, Essex, Gloucestershire, Lancashire, Middlesex (includes Cities of London and Westminster), Norfolk, Northumberland, Shropshire, Somerset, Suffolk, Yorkshire. The County of London was not formed until 1888. London parishes formerly in Surrey and Kent, south of the River Thames, are included in the two Miscellaneous Series.
- First Miscellaneous Series - 1538 to 1775
Boyd's First Miscellaneous Series has now been added to British Origins. This data includes over 1.4 million names that are not included in any of the separate county lists. The records in the First Series include the following counties: Bedforshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Cheshire, Cornwall, Dorset, Hampshire, Herefordshire, Hertfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Rutland, Staffordshire, Surrey, Sussex, Warwickshire, Westmorland, Wiltshire, and Worcestershire.
- Second Miscellaneous Series - 1538 to 1837
This Series was typed by the Genealogical Society of Utah from miscellaneous slips prepared and bequeathed to them by Boyd. It contains marriages from all the English counties, including gaps left by the First Miscellaneous Series.
Source of records
While most records have been captured from the Parish Registers, many have been captured from Bishops' Transcripts (BTs), and both sources have been used for some.
- Bishops' Transcripts: From 1598, English parishes had to send their bishop an annual list of baptisms, marriages and burials. Surviving Bishops' Transcripts are usually held at the relevant County Record Office. Where the seat of the bishop is in a different county to the parish, the transcripts could be in either county.
- Marriage Licences: For Suffolk there are also 12,000 marriage licence entries (24,000 people) for the Archdeaconries of Suffolk (9,758) and Sudbury (2,243). There are also a few records of Banns.
Copies of the typescript index
Copies of the original typescript index are with the Society of Genealogists, the College of Arms, the Genealogical Society of Utah and some county records offices and libraries have copies of segments of the Index. At present the Society of Genealogists' copy of the Index consists of 534 volumes containing about 6 to 7 million names. This is thought to cover 12 to 15% of marriages in England between 1538 and 1840.
The index records
All index entries contain:
- First and Last name of groom
- First and Last name of bride
- Year of marriage
- County and Parish of marriage
- Record source - BT (Bishops' Transcript), ML (marriage licence), BANNS (banns)
For example:
1607; COOK; MARY; PARMBY; NIC; CAMBRIDGE ST ANDREW GREAT; CAMBRIDGESHIRE
There are some idiosyncrasies in the way last names are spelled and first names abbreviated.
Boyd's Marriage Index for England (1538 to 1840) contains 151 entries under the surname RAMSDALE and its close variants:
Year Last Name 1 First Name 1 Last Name 2 First Name 2 Place County 1584 Ramsdaile My Wilson Thos Darrington Yorkshire 1616 Ramsdaile Agn Mawson Chris Leeds (St Peter) Yorkshire 1637 Ramsdaile Ric Laborne Eliz Hamsterley Durham 1638 Ramsdaile Mary Dickinson Jn Durham (St Nicholas) Durham 1624 Ramsdaile Ric Bouckle An Auckland (St Andrew) Durham 1618 Ramsdale Rob Planard Urs York Archdiocese Yorkshire 1772 Ramsdale Pet Hartington An Marylebone (St Mary Le Bone) Middlesex 1741 Ramsdale Alce Bland Ric Nottingham Archdeaconry Nottinghamshire 1708 Ramsdale An Marshall Jas Nottingham Archdeaconry Nottinghamshire 1758 Ramsdale Mary Weat Jn Darlton Nottinghamshire 1641 Ramsdale Alce Shindler Jn Canterbury Diocese Kent 1640 Ramsdale Eln Frend Tho Lincoln Diocese Lincolnshire 1687 Ramsdale Jn Lomax Jane Chester Archdeaconry Cheshire 1745 Ramsdale Mary Longston Wm Peak Forest Derbyshire 1736 Ramsdale An Allen Math Spalding Lincolnshire 1743 Ramsdale Elz Brown Cha Moulton Lincolnshire 1787 Ramsdale Tho Steward Barb Walsham, North Norfolk 1779 Ramsdale Wm Plaiford Mary Ridlington Norfolk 1779 Ramsdale Wm Plaiford Mary Ridlington Norfolk 1604 Ramsdale Hy Stable An Leeds Yorkshire 1608 Ramsdale Alex Holme Dy Skipton Yorkshire 1617 Ramsdale Jn Headley Eliz Seamer Yorkshire 1572 Ramsdale Jn Jeffries Alce Yarmouth, Great Norfolk 1733 Ramsdale Tho Roiall Mary Catfield Norfolk 1599 Ramsdale Marian Weslake Rog Exeter (St Paul) Devon 1832 Ramsdale Marth Southworth Ric Leyland Lancashire 1836 Ramsdale Elz Atherton Wm Wigan Lancashire 1836 Ramsdale Han Howarth Emanuel Wigan Lancashire 1829 Ramsdale Elz Longworth Jn Wigan Lancashire 1830 Ramsdale An Harison Jn Wigan Lancashire 1830 Ramsdale An Stephenson Jn Wigan Lancashire 1826 Ramsdale Alce Eltoft Hen E Wigan Lancashire 1805 Ramsdale Eln Crawford Geo Wigan Lancashire 1804 Ramsdale Betty Hardman Tho Wigan Lancashire 1802 Ramsdale Esther Flitcroft Wm Wigan Lancashire 1801 Ramsdale An Wilcock Jas Wigan Lancashire 1803 Ramsdale Mgt Pickering Tho Wigan Lancashire 1813 Ramsdale Elz Roper Ric Wigan Lancashire 1817 Ramsdale Mgt Marsh Rob Wigan Lancashire 1820 Ramsdale Sara Oromton Jas Wigan Lancashire 1822 Ramsdale Esther Davis Jn Wigan Lancashire 1779 Ramsdale Betty Keirsly Rog Wigan Lancashire 1784 Ramsdale Mary Hamblet ... Wigan Lancashire 1787 Ramsdale An Longworth Rob Wigan Lancashire 1782 Ramsdale Mary Holme Jas Wigan Lancashire 1779 Ramsdale Alce Keirsly Wm Wigan Lancashire 1823 Ramsdale Sam Boardman Sara Wigan Lancashire 1816 Ramsdale Wm Fagan Mgt Wigan Lancashire 1814 Ramsdale Jas Haies An Wigan Lancashire 1835 Ramsdale Tho Golding Han Wigan Lancashire 1803 Ramsdale Abr Brown Elz Manchester Lancashire 1828 Ramsdale Rob Gaskel Jane Wigan Lancashire 1784 Ramsdale Edm Laithwait Alce Wigan Lancashire 1808 Ramsdale Jas Chadwick Mary Hindley Lancashire 1814 Ramsdale Rob Hodgson Esther Wigan Lancashire 1826 Ramsdale Tho Hoighton Eln Wigan Lancashire 1793 Ramsdale Jn Makin Jane Wigan Lancashire 1821 Ramsdale Tho Hough Jane Wigan Lancashire 1803 Ramsdale Jas Hughes Mary Wigan Lancashire 1818 Ramsdale Jn Gregory Sara Wigan Lancashire 1777 Ramsdale Jn Meadow Mary Wigan Lancashire 1821 Ramsdale Rob Bolton An Wigan Lancashire 1826 Ramsdale Tho Coop Mgt Wigan Lancashire 1797 Ramsdale Rob Bushal Alce Wigan Lancashire 1746 Ramsdale Rob Smethurst Elz Wigan Lancashire 1730 Ramsdale Jas Wittle Anna Deane Lancashire 1782 Ramsdale Rob France Est Wigan Lancashire 1789 Ramsdale Jas Barlow Betty Wigan Lancashire 1775 Ramsdale Tho Kay Est Wigan Lancashire 1773 Ramsdale Tho Marsh Mary Wigan Lancashire 1828 Ramsdale Jas Richardson Sara Wigan Lancashire 1830 Ramsdale Moses Winnard Marth Wigan Lancashire 1827 Ramsdale Sam Smith Alce Wigan Lancashire 1825 Ramsdale Tho Lee Eln Wigan Lancashire 1819 Ramsdale Nath Nelson Elz Wigan Lancashire 1819 Ramsdale Rob Short Elz Wigan Lancashire 1821 Ramsdale Moses Ray Mary Wigan Lancashire 1815 Ramsdale Wm Shuffleton Mary Wigan Lancashire 1814 Ramsdale Wm Mather Han Wigan Lancashire 1813 Ramsdale Jn Small Mary Wigan Lancashire 1803 Ramsdale Jas Orret Mgt Manchester Lancashire 1748 Ramsdale Eliz Curdas Rob Coniscliffe Durham 1757 Ramsdale Wm Greathead Eliz Sockburn Durham 1751 Ramsdale Thos Newton Mary Coniscliffe Durham 1760 Ramsdale Mary Litster Rob Gainford Durham 1761 Ramsdale Ste Hurworth An Denton Durham 1719 Ramsdale Ralph Sissons Mary Coniscliffe Durham 1775 Ramsdale Wm Wethereld Jane Sockburn Durham 1728 Ramsdale Flint Filmouth An Suffolk Archdeaconry Suffolk 1714 Ramsdale Mary Wilson Ric Lowestoft Suffolk 1717 Ramsdale Jn Ward Elz Lowestoft Suffolk 1736 Ramsdale Fran Wilson Jn Lowestoft Suffolk 1736 Ramsdale Fran Wilson Jn Suffolk Archdeaconry Suffolk 1728 Ramsdale Flint Tilmouth An Lowestoft Suffolk 1765 Ramsdale Tho Wilkins Mary Westminster (St George Hanover Square) Middlesex 1790 Ramsdale Mary Wing Aaron Marylebone (St Mary Le Bone) Middlesex 1772 Ramsdale Pet Hartington An Marylebone (St Mary Le Bone) Middlesex 1812 Ramsdale Mary Grogott Jos Westminster (St George Hanover Square) Middlesex 1818 Ramsdale Math Goodland An Westminster (St George Hanover Square) Middlesex 1735 Ramsdale Mgt Bunce Jn London (St Michael Bassishaw) London 1805 Ramsdale Ann Haslam Hen Derby (St Peter) Derbyshire 1717 Ramsdale John Thomas Barb Howden Yorkshire 1803 Ramsdale Betty Lee Geo Hatfield Yorkshire 1786 Ramsdale Jn Gland My Blacktoft Yorkshire 1585 Ramsdale Alice ... Lawr Snaith Yorkshire 1834 Ramsdale Ana Fauston Wm Linton On Ouse Yorkshire 1790 Ramsdale Th Carper El Doncaster Yorkshire 1645 Ramsdale An Valiance Jno Carlton By Snaith Yorkshire 1791 Ramsdale Rob Stephenson Har Bubwith Yorkshire 1798 Ramsdale Jos Skipsey Jen Ayton, Great Yorkshire 1819 Ramsdale My Rose Jn Rotherham Yorkshire 1767 Ramsdale Wm Kinsley An Hatfield Yorkshire 1633 Ramsdale Fces Hinderwell Thos Seamer Near Northallerton Yorkshire 1762 Ramsdale Thos Goldthorp Mart Doncaster Yorkshire 1623 Ramsdale Mgt Moor Simson White Roding Essex 1675 Ramsdale Edw Francis Ann Broseley Shropshire 1672 Ramsdale Mgt Rawlings Edm Ludlow Shropshire 1636 Ramsdall Dy Leatham ... Campsall Yorkshire 1814 Ramsdall Fran Bow Elz Doncaster Yorkshire 1566 Ramsdall Jane Townend Thos Normanton Yorkshire 1780 Ramsdall Elz Steel Wm Rotherham Yorkshire 1731 Ramsdall Isb Gowthwatte Rob York (St Martin Coney Street) Yorkshire 1634 Ramsdall Mary Wilson Tho Leyton Essex 1579 Ramsdall Wm Jepson An Doncaster Yorkshire 1577 Ramsday Gilb Nowels Elz London (St Mary Magdalene Milk St) London 1658 Ramsdel An Jackson Sam Croxton Kerrial Leicestershire 1780 Ramsdel Chr Coverdale My Ayton, Great Yorkshire 1629 Ramsdel Edw Clink Tomsin Stepney (St Dunstan) Middlesex 1684 Ramsdel Hester Hobs Wm Marylebone (St Mary Le Bone) Middlesex 1678 Ramsdel Jn Read Elz Beccles Suffolk 1686 Ramsdel Esther Haddingham Jacob Beccles Suffolk 1832 Ramsdel Sam Robinson Agn Chorley (St Lawrence) Lancashire 1794 Ramsdel Ralph Watson Eliz Durham (St Margaret) Durham 1801 Ramsdel Mich Fox Ann Gresham Norfolk 1802 Ramsdel Sarah Maria Palmer Wm Ditchingham Norfolk 1770 Ramsdel Thos Johnson Sarah Ditchingham Norfolk 1670 Ramsdell Ric Pepper Mary Pinchbeck Lincolnshire 1773 Ramsdell Wm Huntington Ann Middleton St George Durham 1665 Ramsdell Jos Muntser Jane Heighington Durham 1631 Ramsdell Jas Thirston Dy Docking Norfolk 1729 Ramsdell Tho Shadfast An Bradfield Norfolk 1697 Ramsdell Lettice Pepper Edm Bawsey Norfolk 1652 Ramsdell Grace Ingram Fcis Whitkirk Yorkshire 1755 Ramsdell Flint Williams Jane Lowestoft Suffolk 1637 Ramsdell Jn Berry Jane York (St Mary Bishophill Junior) Yorkshire 1642 Ramsdell Isab Roberts Thos Fewston Yorkshire 1632 Ramsdell Jn Morley Jane York (Holy Trinity Goodramgate) Yorkshire 1621 Ramsdell Tho Briarly Mary Leyton Essex 1707 Ramsdill Wm Cartt Eliz York (Holy Trinity Goodramgate) Yorkshire 1804 Ramsdill Elz Richmond Dav Ouseburn, Great Yorkshire 1761 Ramsdle Ste Hoarwood An Coniscliffe Durham Copyright © David Ramsdale 1997 - 2021
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