FamilySearch - "Robert Carr probably married one of the following people..."

[steadyrollingman]

You know when that phrase comes up on Family Search? Are the other people named the witnesses to the marriage or just other people who were married that day?

I've not taken much notice of the other names until now, when searching for a marriage between Robert Carr and Elizabeth Hanratty:https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:263K-SQJ
The other name that comes up is Mary Ann Humphery, and Robert's mam was Mary Ann Humphries, but from what I've determined previously, she died in 1894, about 8 years earlier. Or so I thought...

[PaulineJ]

It's Just people whose marriages appear on the same page of the marriage register.

Arranged alphabetically by surname

[steadyrollingman]

Ah, that's what I thought, thanks ...

[clairec666]

If the record comes from the England & Wales marriage index (as opposed to parish records), there are often two marriages recorded on the same page of the register, so there are two potential wives for your man. (Earlier records might have as many as four potential spouses on the same page.)

[BumbleB]

I'm assuming you do know that Robert Carr married Elizabeth Hanratty - confirmed by:

https://gro.durham.gov.uk/pgPublicDetail.aspx

[steadyrollingman]

Thanks Claire, haven't had that dubious pleasure yet, so good to know. And BumbleB, thx, yes, I was just looking for a source to use as a hyperlink to prove it when I got suddenly excited/intrigued...

[LizTJ]

I did find one of my (really common name) ancestors by searching for her in the following census by using both surnames.  Sure enough one matched where she was born and her age. I had found the 'possibly married one of the following people' and even though wives were named Mary the other combination missed by the proverbial country mile.
Liz