UK & Ireland: Civil Registration Records

Records for all births, marriages and deaths in the UK have been kept since the introduction of registration in 1831 in England and Wales and 1855 for Scotland. These records provide invaluable information to assist Genealogists in their research.
These registrations help with the creation of family trees, allowing researchers to work back through records to the start of civil registration.

	England and Wales, Civil Registration Index: 1837-1900
	First Name		About the Search: "On 1 July 1837 a civil registration system for births, marriages and deaths was introduced in England and Wales. Registration was undertaken by civil registrars who reported to the Registrar General at the General Register Office (GRO) in London, now part of the Office for National Statistics (ONS)." (Mark D. Herber, Ancestral Trails, Genealogical Publishing Company, Inc., 1998) Since the original birth, marriage and death registers are not open to the public, getting access to the information on one of these certificates is done by first searching the national birth, marriage and death indexes, that have been created by the GRO for this purpose." Powered by Ancestry.co.uk
	Last Name
	Type	All Types Births Deaths Marriages
	Volume
	Districts
	Quarter	Select All March June September December
	Year

If you are ordering certificates from a local Register Office, you may have to supply more information - some offices require the exact place of birth for birth certificates, and for a marriage certificate the exact place of marriage, (i.e. the name of the church or register office), is essential as these are all indexed separately.

Checking System
When requesting certificates use the checking system available at The Family Records Centre, [Myddelton Street, LONDON EC1R 1UW]. The ONS will only produce a certifcate if the details requested to be checked match. These are the references used for the checking system for BMD's:

Births

• Date of Birth
• Place of birth as exactly as possible
• Full name and surname of person's father
• Full name and surname of person's mother
• Other checking point

 

Marriages

• Date of marriage
• Place of marriage as exactly as possible
• Full name and surname of man's father
• Full name and surname of woman's father
• Other checking point

 

Deaths

• Date of death
• Place of death as exactly as possible
• Date of birth of deceased (only shown in and after June 1969)
• Occupation and (if female) marital condition of deceased
• Other checking point

 

If any of the checking references do not match, a certificate will not be issued and the ONS will refund part of your fee.