the very first marriage certificate I got from the GRO had no witnesses, nor was it signed by the vicar!
Its dated 1840.
Having received the first certificate I did at least know where the alleged marriage was supposed to have occurred, so I contacted the local register office. They were able to confirm that the cert they had - the original church register - did actually show the required 2 witnesses & the vicar's signature. So we know the copies sent to the GRO can have mistakes, I suppose its just as easy for an original to have mistakes too. Aren't TWO certs written out when someone gets married? He could just have got carried away & wrote his own name down twice on one of them. I'd love to be able to see the other copy (given to the bride & groom) to see if its the same.
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