Marriage is the traditional starting point of family history and genealogy research

Marriage is the traditional starting point of family history and genealogy research. Marriage is a social union or legal contract between individuals that crates kinship and is the basis upon which a family group sheet is initiated in our documentation. This union may also be called matrimony and is normally marked by a ceremony called a wedding.

People marry for various reasons; for our purposes, we will focus on the creation of a family, that is, the establishment of a nuclear family unit. Marriage practices are very diverse across cultures. Marriage is usually recognized by the state, a religious authority, or both; and is often viewed as a contract. The act of marriage usually creates normative or legal obligations between the individuals involved.

In addition to the creation of a family, marriage may be entered into for many reasons including the elements of: legal, social, emotional, economical, spiritual, and religious. These can even include arranged marriages, marriages to meet family obligations, the protection of children, and/or the public declaration of commitment.

The institution of marriage pre-dates reliable recorded history; one of the oldest known and recorded marriage laws is discerned from Hammurabi's Code. Various cultures have their own theories of the origin of marriage. One historian has proposed that "the institution of marriage has probably developed out of a primeval habit."

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