More about Civil Registration

The centralised registration of Birth, Marriage and Death commenced on 1st July 1837, prior to this date there are only the records of baptism, marriage and burial performed by the church. Registration was expanded to include stillbirths and adoption from 1927.

The country was divided into Registration Districts under the control of a Superintendent Registrar, based on the new Poor Law Union boundaries of 1834, and were then divided into sub districts run by a Registrar. Boundaries and names of Registration Districts may have been altered several times; others may have been added or deleted.

There are normally two copies of each record of birth, marriage and death. The original record is kept at the local Superintendent Registrars office and then once a quarter the superintendent sent to the Registrar General in London a certified copy. It is from these copies that National Indexes have been compiled, these are now usually known as GRO (General Registry Office) indexes. These indexes were originally kept at Somerset House, then at St Catherine's House but are now housed at the FRC (Family Record Centre, 1 Myddleton St, Islington London).

The indexes may be examined for free either in person at the FRC, or by viewing microfiche copies held at various depositories worldwide. They are also available on the Internet.

The www.ukbmd.org.uk web site provides access to a growing number of indexes from local register offices.

The index is a finding aid to the actual certificate (cost £7) and only gives a limited amount of information. There are separate indexes for Births (pink), Marriages (green) and Death (black) which are arranged alphabetically by name for each year in quarterly (ending 31 Mar, 30 Jun, 30 Sep and 31 Dec) volumes to 1993, and annually thereafter. Note the entry is based on the date of registration not on the date the event took place. Births should have been registered within 42 days, deaths within 8 days (5 days since 1953) and marriages immediately.

Information common to all indexes is name, registration district (not the actual place the event occurred), volume and page number. Babies whose parents had not decided on a name at registration appear at the end of the relevant surname listing.

Extra information has been added to the indexes as follows.

  • Birth indexes - from 1911 Q3 includes mother's maiden name.
  • Marriage indexes - from 1912 Q1 includes surname of spouse.
  • Death indexes - from 1866 Q1 includes age at death and from 1969 Q2 this was changed to include date of birth.

In theory all birth, marriage and deaths since June 1837 should be found in the indexes, however many errors and omissions have occurred mainly through non registration (particularly births prior to 1875), inaccurate registration, inaccurate copying and inaccurate indexing.

There are various options available for obtaining a copy of a birth, marriage or death certificate. They can be ordered in person from the FRC (for collection the next day or sent by post within 4 days) or via postal mail / telephone to General Register Office, PO Box 2, Southport, PR8 2JD 0845 603 7788 or via the internet using a credit/debit card www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content

Certificates may also be obtained from the local Register Office where the event took place; unfortunately this is not always possible for RO in London and other busy areas or for marriages unless the particular church is known.