Canada, Newspapers.com™ Marriage Index, 1800s-current

General collection information

This database consists of information extracted from marriage announcements found in newspapers from Canada on Newspapers.com™ dating from the early 1800s to the present. The information is presented as an index only, with a link to the corresponding digitized page on Newspapers.com™. Clicking on the link will open the image on the Newspapers.com™ site, which may require an additional upgrade or subscription. The information in the database was pulled from a record by a computer and may have some inaccuracies.

Using this collection

Records in this collection may include the following information:

Newspaper marriage announcements can be informative places to start your genealogical research. Parents’ names and brides’ maiden names allow you to take your family research back to another generation on both sides of the family. Addresses may lead to other genealogical resources like a census or other documents tied to a place. The names of wedding officiants may provide clues to the religion of the married couple.

Newspaper marriage announcements often went beyond names, dates, and places. Some announcements may include stories about how the couple met, details about the wedding ceremony, and information about where the couple planned to take their honeymoon.

Beginning in the late 1800s, photographs began to accompany marriage announcements, and they became common during the 1900s. The photographs were often a way to show off the bride’s wedding dress.

Collection in context

The marriage announcements in this index are high-quality primary historical sources. They were written by journalists working for newspapers throughout Canada, or they were submitted to newspapers by the married couple’s family. The original newspapers that they were published in are available on Newspapers.com™.

Newspaper marriage announcements began in the mid-1800s with detailed stories of the marriages of the social elite. The earliest marriage announcements for average citizens were much less detailed, but by the 1880s, many newspapers had society pages that included detailed announcements for average married couples.

During the 19th century, many families viewed marriages like business mergers, and the newspaper marriage announcement was one way to spread the news about the merger of the two families.

Technology changed marriage announcements in the 21st century as many newspapers shifted their acknowledgment of local weddings from the printed page to the digital version.

Bibliography

Ashcraft, Jenny. “Newspaper Marriage Announcements: Using the Language of Love to Break Down Genealogical Walls.” Fishwrap, the official blog of Newspapers.com™. Accessed January 18, 2023. https://blog.newspapers.com/newspaper-marriage-announcements-using-the-language-of-love-to-break-down-genealogical-walls/.

Doty, Cate. “A Brief History of the New York Times Wedding Announcements.” Literary Hub. Accessed January 18, 2023. https://lithub.com/a-brief-history-of-the-new-york-times-wedding-announcements/.

Meleen, Michele. “Wedding Announcements in the Newspaper.” Love to Know. Last modified January 20, 2020. https://weddings.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Wedding_Announcement_in_the_Newspaper.

Powell, Kimberly “10 Types of Marriage Records.” ThoughtCo. Last Modified October 14, 2019. https://www.thoughtco.com/marriage-records-types-4077752.

Recent Updates:
6 Dec 2022: Added 68,686 new records from hundreds of newspapers.
23 Mar 2023: Added 148,864 new records from hundreds of newspapers.
28 June 2023: Added 6,501 new records from hundreds of newspapers.