ancestor-search.info

> Sources of Information > General Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths

sources of

information

• All Indexes - surname, forenames, registration district, volume reference, page reference
• Birth Indexes from September 1911 onwards also contains - mother's maiden surname
• Marriage Indexes from March 1912 onwards also contains - spouse's surname (marriages are indexed by the pre marriage surnames of both the groom and bride)
• Death Indexes from March 1866 onwards also contains - age at death

Birth Certificate

• Child - date of birth, place of birth, forenames and sex
• Father - full name, occupation (plus, from 1969, place of birth)
• Mother - full name and maiden surname (plus, from 1969, place of birth)

• Date and place of marriage
• Names of witnesses
• Bride and Groom - full names, current addresses, occupations, marital status, ages, names and occupations of respective fathers

• Deceased - full name, date of death, place of death, cause of death, occupation (or name and occupation of husband), date of birth, place of birth, usual address (plus, from 1969, maiden name if married or widowed woman)
• Informant - name, address and relationship to deceased if any

Registration was not made compulsory until 1875 and it is estimated that up to 20% of births were not registered in some areas during the period 1837-75

Be wary of ages stated in death certificates of people born before 1837 since the deceased and their relatives often only had a vague idea of when they were born

Our ancestors often lied to the Registrar, particularly about their ages for marriage certificates

• The complete index as published by the GRO from 1837 to 2005 can be viewed on a subscription basis at the Find My Past web site, the Genealogist web site or the ancestry.co.uk web site (choice of site tends to depend on the relevance of the other online databases on offer within their respective subscription packages - see our comparison of subscription sites page) - for the years 1837 to 1983 the index is held in digitised image format - for the years 1984 to 2005 it is held in readily searchable text format
• A high proportion of the index for the years 1837 to the early 1900s has been transcribed and can be searched for free on the FreeBMD site - for most years up until 1912 for births, 1915 for marriages and 1916 for deaths, the coverage is 100% or very close to - check the site's coverage charts for the latest progress

• Microfiche copies of the GRO master indexes are available for searching at the National Archives, the Society of Genealogists, LDS Family History Centres, the National Library of Wales, the British Library, the Birmingham Central Library, the Bridgend Reference Library, the City of Westminster Archives, the Manchester City Library, the Newcastle City Library and the Plymouth Central Library

• Costs £9.25 per certificate for standard service - certificate sent within 4 working days if certificate index reference supplied, otherwise sent within 15 working days
• Costs £23.40 per certificate for priority service - sent next working day but must be ordered by phone (0300 123 1837) before 4pm
• Can be ordered online at www.direct.gov.uk
• Can be ordered by phone from the General Register Office on 0300 123 1837
• Can be ordered by post from General Register Office at P.O. Box 2, Southport, Merseyside PR8 2JD - an application form can be downloaded online from www.direct.gov.uk