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SOURCES OF INFORMATION

Introduction

General Register

Census

IGI

National Burial Index

Parish Registers

Wills

Other Sources

• 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 either 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) - 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, many Record Offices and a fair number of Local Studies Centres

• Costs £11.50 per certificate if ordering on the basis of full name and approximate date of death, marriage or death
• Cost £8.50 if GRO index reference (year, quarter, registration district, volume, page) also provided. This charge is reduced to £7 if ordered online.
• Can be ordered online at www.gro.gov.uk
• Can be ordered by phone from the General Register Office on 0870 243 7788
• Can be ordered by post from General Register Office at P.O. Box 2, Southport, Merseyside PR8 2JD