The development of a marriage index database
searchable by both bride and groom is due to the
enterprise and hard work of a few members of the
Society’s Vale of White Horse Branch. This
gap in our records was identified when the Branch
started only four years ago and shows the
difference that a small number of dedicated
members can make. They were initially
disappointed to find that Oxford Family History
Society was already indexing their area of north
Berkshire, now part of Oxfordshire, but
nevertheless decided to continue. The group
started transcribing in libraries. The process
quickened when they managed to borrow films and
fiche and the relevant readers and began to
transcribe at home. Some film readers not being
rotatable made this easy task far more difficult
— neck ache was an occupational hazard.
Later another group based around Reading started
checking the transcriptions against the original
registers held at the Berkshire Record Office.
Anyone wishing to volunteer to help the project
should email or write to the Projects Co-ordinator
at Yeomanry House.
At the time of writing (Oct 2002), more than
95,000 entries have been transcribed and over 39,000
records have been checked. Work continues on
preparing further batches for inclusion in the
Index. Parishes in north Berkshire that were in
the ancient county of Berkshire, but now in
Oxfordshire, are on the North Berkshire Marriage
Index compiled by Oxfordshire Family History
Society. We offer a postal search service of the
Berkshire Marriage Index:
See details at www.BerksFHS.org.uk/services/
or in the current issue of the Berkshire Family
Historian. It should be remembered that an index
is a research tool. In work of this nature some
errors will inevitably remain, and the writing in
old, sometimes damaged, registers is open to
differing interpretations. We recommend that
after using the index you refer to the registers
yourselves. The parishes and periods that have
been transcribed are given at www.BerksFHS.org.uk/berkshire/BerkshireMarriageIndex.htm;
checked entries are in bold type. This list will
be updated regularly in the magazine and on the
website.
