Pallot's Index to Marriages is essential for researchers with London ancestry, as it covers all but two of the 103 parishes in the old City of London. The dates span the time from 1780 to the onset of General Registration in 1837. The more than 1.7 million marriage entries come mainly from London and Middlesex, but also include entries from 2500 parishes in 38 counties outside of London--many not available in other sources. Also included are several records from counties in Wales. With indexing beginning in 1813, several of the registers transcribed in Pallot's index no longer exist, having been destroyed or lost.

The index slips were handwritten on paper slips, and indexing continued regularly over a period of more than 150 years. Each slip identifies the church or chapel in which the marriage was celebrated, the names of bride and of groom, whether spinster, bachelor, widow or widower and sometimes other details along with the date of the event. The entries in this database are linked to the images from which the data was extracted.

The original paper slips of the Pallot Index are owned and held at The Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies, Canterbury, Kent, England. The Institute may have access to fuller details which may have survived among the original parish records. (www.ihgs.ac.uk) The Institute is a not-for-profit educational organization and researches in the records themselves can be arranged. Please visit their website for additional information about the services they provide.

Pallot's is pay to view at www.ancestry.com Note a search at ancestry is free - free registration does not require credit card - (a free trial is different)