Registrar marriages
Registrar marriages took place in British India from 1852. A common misconception regarding these marriages is that they equate to today's 'registry office marriages' and were a secular ceremony. The vast majority of Registrar marriages took place according to non-conformist Christian rites and were often in places of Christian worship.
Examples of such might include:
- London Missionary Society Chapel by an LMS missionary
- Presbyterian minister conducted marriage in a private home
- Wesleyan Methodist place of worship and minister
- Episcopal Methodist minister & chapel
Rather than being non-religious affairs, what sets such marriages apart is that the Ministers of Religion who conducted the ceremonies were not licensed by the State as Marriage Registrars. This meant that the Civil Registrar would need to be present to Register the marriage and make it legal.
Records
Marriages conducted by Registrar commenced in 1852 and are included in the India Office ‘N’ series - Returns of Registrar Marriages in Bengal, Madras, Bombay and Burma IOR/N/11. The LDS have not filmed these records so they can only be viewed at the British Library.
FIBIS resources
- Registry Office Marriage Index 1852-1911 - a complete transcription of the indexes to the registrar marriage records is on the FIBIS Search database.