Birth, marriage and death certificates

Certificates in England and Wales

Birth, marriage and death certificates started in England and Wales in 1837. Births and deaths had to be registered at the local Registrar's office but, marriages could also be registered at the local churches. This means there are three sources of marriage certificates and two sources of birth and death certificates.

What information do you get?

To find the certificate you want, you'll need to consult the indexes. If you're looking for a certificate then your first place to consult should be the new index of births marriages and deaths being produced at http://freebmd.rootsweb.com/ This index to the registers is being produced by volunteers and covers 1837 - 1901. It can be a little slow and it's not quite finished yet so if searching it produces no result try looking in your local main library - Often you can find a microfisch copy of the index there. Failing that you will need to write to:

Certificate Services Section
General Register Office
PO Box 2
SOUTHPORT
PR8 2JD
England

or if in London, you can apply in person at The Family Record Centre 1 Myddelton Street, London EC1R 1UW.

If you know the district where the event occurred and you happen to live in that area, then you can check for the certificate you want at the Local Registry Office - find it's address in the phone book or look up it's address at the General Registry site.

Fees for certificates are as follows (as of 11th Feb 2005):

Standard service - Full certificate of birth, marriage or death - £7 where you can supply the exact General Reference Office index reference.
Priority service - Full certificate of birth, marriage or death - £23.00 (the certificate will be sent to you on the working day following receipt of your application).
Where you are not sure of the exact reference, additional references can be checked for £3.00 each (or £19 if you want priority service)
If you don't provide an index reference then the fees are £11.50 (£27.50 for priority service) This includes a search fee.

There is no point in applying for a short or abbreviated certificate since they contain little information of use to a genealogist.

The easiest way to get a certificate is to apply at the online certificate service site.

By telephone (standard certificate service) - on +44 (0) 845 603 7788 (8am to 8pm Monday to Friday. Saturday 9am to 4pm). For priority service, use +44 (0) - 151 - 471 - 4572, [the +44 is the UK country code, leave out the 0 following it if calling from outside the UK].

By fax (standard service) on +44 (0) - 1704 - 550013 and for priority service on +44 (0) - 1704 - 568315.

You can still order certificates by post, use the address above.

Get further details by e-mail at certificate.services@ons.gsi.gov.uk or priority.certificates@ons.gsi.gov.uk or go to their website at http://www.gro.gov.uk/

The Family Record Centre has a web site at http://www.familyrecords.gov.uk/

So what do you get?
The examples shown below is a copy of the information provided on the birth, marriage and death certificates for Charles Gullon Marr.

Birth Certificate:

REGISTRATION DISTRICT Tynemouth
1877 Birth in the Sub-District of *Longbenton* in the county of Northumberland
Column	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
No.	When and where born	Name, if any	Sex	Name and surname of father	Name, surname and maiden surname of mother	Occupation of father	Signature, description and residence of informant	When registered	Signature of Registrar	Name entered after registration
*267*	*Twenty third August 1877 Bill Point Walker*	*Charles Gullon*	*boy*	*James Marr*	*Rachel Marr formerly Gullon*	*Iron Moulder*	*Rachel Marr mother Bill Point Walker*	*Third October 1877*	*John Brown* Registrar

Births, September quarter, 1877----------Marr, Charles Gullon, Newcastle on Tyne, 5C,756

Marriage Certificate:

REGISTRATION DISTRICT Newcastle on Tyne
1899 Marriage solemnized at *the Parish Church* in the Parish of St Philip High Elswick in the County of Newcastle on Tyne
Column	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
No.	When Married	Name and surname	Age	Condition	Rank or Profession	Residence at time of Marriage	Father's Name and Surname	Rank or Profession of Father
*423*	*June 3 1899*	*Charles Gullon Marr*	22	*Bachelor*	*Labourer*	*141 Stanhope St*	*James Marr (deceased)*	*Moulder*
*423*	*June 3 1899*	*Margaret Isabella Foggan*	22	*Spinster*		*107 Hamilton St*	*Robert Foggan (deceased)*	*Leather - cutter*
Married in the *Parish Church* according to the Rites and Ceremonies of the Established Church by or after Banns								by me,
This marriage was solemnized between us,	*Charles Gullon Marr*			in the presence of us,	*George R. Foggan*			*W.E. Mole*
This marriage was solemnized between us,	*Margaret Isabella Foggan*			in the presence of us,	*Mary Ann Middleton*			*Vicar*

Marriages, September quarter, 1899----------Marr, Charles Gullon, Newcastle on Tyne, 3B,930
Cross referenced under the bride's name Foggan, Margaret Isabella, Newcastle on Tyne, 3B,930

Death Certificate:

REGISTRATION DISTRICT Newcastle on Tyne
1943 DEATH in the Sub-District of *Byker* in the county of Newcastle on Tyne
Column	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
No.	When and where died	Name and surname	Sex	Age	Occupation	Cause of death	Signature, description and residence of informant	When registered	Signature of Registrar
79	13 July 1943 120 Tynemouth Rd	*Charles Gullon Marr*	*Male*	65	*Horsekeeper*	Influenza H. Gibson MRCS	*John Marr, son 200 Byker Rd Newcastle*	*31st July 1943*	*C. Mond* Registrar

The index entry is :
Deaths, September quarter, 1943----------Marr, Charles Gullon, Byker, 5A,243

Points to note

The residence of the informant is not always useful
Use a birth certificate to find the parent's marriage certificate, which may be up to 31 years earlier.
Marriage certificates may give the age of the couple or they may be recorded as 'over 21' or 'of full age'. Sometimes, the bride or groom may be recorded as 'minor', indicating they were under 21.
Death certificates can be unreliable. The age of the deceased may not be precise and the full name may not be given.
Use a death certificate to find a birth certificate.

Scottish Certificates
Registration of Scottish births, marriages and deaths started a little later in 1855. They are essentially the same but, Scottish birth certificates do have one advantage in that they give the date of the parents marriage. The best place to start your search for these records (and for census records, parish register entries exceeding 100 years old and wills) is on the Web at www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk. You can also find Scottish records at The General Register Office for Scotland - http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/ . Once you have found your record in the indexes you can order a certificate online and view it online immediately. That's a much better facility than the English system. Not only that but the fees you pay for online access for other documents such as Census and Parish Registers are now valid for up to 90 days - again much better than the English system.

Irish Certificates
Civil registration commenced in 1864 but many Irish records were destroyed in 1922. Records from 1864 to 1922, for all Ireland, and from 1922 for the Republic are held at the Office of the Registrar General, Joyce House, 8-11 Lombard Street, Dublin 2, Ireland. Northern Irish records since 1922 are held at the GRO, Oxford House, Chichester Street, Belfast, Northern Ireland, BT1 4HL. You may find the Irish Times site at http://scripts.ireland.com/ancestor/browse/records/state/ of use Other places you could try are http://www.ancestryireland.com/test/database.php and http://www.origins.net/.

Genlinks Home page