George - have spent many hours working at this for you to see if I could find any answers. (Largely due to slow Internet Connection and a great deal of trouble accessing FreeBMD.)
However, I have come up with a few things that I think may provide some answers for you - but there is a lot more to do yet.
The information from the marriage certificate was certainly of help so let's see what we have.
Now knowing that George was born about 1883 and that his father was John I proceeded to check 1901 and 1891 Census records along with lookups in FreeBMD.
There were a number of George Brittons (some various spellings) 'about' the right age and whose father was John and from those I have narrowed the field down to only ONE that looks reasonable.
1891 Census
Radford, Nottingham
1 Railway Yard
John BRITTON, head, mar., 41, gas stoker, Notts., Radford
Jane do., wife, mar., 41, Notts., Basford
Frank do., son, 9, scholar, Notts., Radford
GEORGE do., son, 7, do., Notts., Radford
Daisy do., dau., 5, do., Notts., Radford
Ethel do., dau., 3, Notts., Radford
William do., son, 11 mo., Notts., Radford
1901 Census
Radford, Nottingham
29 Medway La
John BRITTON, head, mar., 51, iron works labourer, Nottingham, Notts
Jane do., wife, mar., 51, Basford, Notts
Harry do., son, 20, coal miner, Radford, Notts
GEORGE do., son, 17, COAL MINER, Radford, Notts
Daisy do., dau., 15, factory hand, Radford, Notts
William do., son, 11, Radford, Notts
Nellie do., dau., 9, Radford, Notts
** That John was a labourer in an Iron Works is of no hindrance to our case as I believe a lot of brickwork would have been used for kilns etc., so his job may well have involved bricklaying.
*** And this is the only GEORGE BRITTON I think I found at any stage, especially closer to the marriage, who was listed as any sort of MINER.
You will notice that the age of everyone in this family was consistent over the two Census so we know that John was born 'about' 1849-51.
There is ONE Death for a John Britton that fits the scenario:-
1904 September Qtr Vol 7b Pg 267 Nottingham R.D.
John BRITTON, age 52
And now is about where I began to have real problems.
I cannot find John in the 1881 Census and I am also having difficulty finding him in 1871.
I tried to search for a marriage between John BRITTON and someone named JANE:-
1878 September Qtr Vol 1a Pg 748 Marylebone R.D.
John BRITTON m. Jane SALTER
1878 December Qtr Vol 9d Pg 1144 Bedale R.D.
John BRITTON m. Jane WAKE
1870 December Qtr Vol 7b Pg 304 RADFORD, Notts. R.D.
John BRITTON m. Jane PINDER
Because of locality I would say that this last is the more likely - problem is that it is 10 YEARS EARLY given the rest of the information I currently have.
This is not an impossibility as both parties would have been about 20.
What is a problem is that I am unable to find them in 1871 or 1881.
IF this is the correct marriage then we should expect to find at the very least another 3 or 4 children.
*** What were the names of George BRITTONS children - might there be any clues there to help us.
I seem to be having trouble with FreeBMD again so it may be another frustrating night - but I will attempt to find the possible Birth records for George and his father John and will also double-check the marriages.
And from 1851 through 1881 I will have another look and see if I can narrow down the field any further.
Let's hope I am on the right track.