Ancestors were Methodists - were their marriages recognised in early 1800s?

[franke]

I'm confused as to how Methodists would have married legally and would the marriage have been recorded anywhere? We're talking about 1800 - 1840ish in Cornwall and Devon. Ditto Baptism - I've found a couple of non-conformist baptisms but there are glaring gaps. tis v frustrating. Any tips? I've been googling but info is a little patchy.

Thought I'd try you clever mnetters before I venture into the scary world of family history sites

[franke]

Thanks MrsB - that is exactly the info I was looking for.

[MrsBadger]

some good info here

afaik pre-1837 records were only kept by the individual church (narrow down by location) but most of these records were trnasferred to the National Archives.

Post-1837 all marriages had to be civilly registered so will be in the NA wherever they took place.