CIVIL REGISTRATION IN ENGLAND AND WALES

England and Wales were originally divided into 619 registration districts. These were based upon the poor law unions which had been established in 1834 and which were loosely based on the early administrative hundreds. In 1851 they were slightly reorganized and increased to 623 districts, each under the supervision of a Superintendent Registrar. These districts were further divided into sub-districts administered by local registrars.

Civil registration districts consisted of a group of towns or parishes, or parts of towns within a close distance of each other. If you know the parish, you will find the civil registration district. Knowing a specific civil registration district is particularly helpful when your ancestor has a common name.

The registrars of each district were responsible for recording all births and deaths which were recorded in registers. Each quarter -  March, June, September and December - the registrars would copy out the registers onto forms and send that form to the Registrar General along with similar information about marriages for indexing purposes.

Marriages solemnised in churches were recorded by the officiating incumbent in the parish marriage register. Marriages conducted in register offices by the superintendent registrars were also recorded in their registers. Every quarter the incumbents sent a return of all marriages performed in their churches to the superintendent registrar who in turn forwarded copies to the Registrar General.

Parish registers recording baptisms and burials (not births and deaths) continue to be used as do marriage registers. The beauty of using parish marriage registers is that they were completed at the time of the event and carry actual signatures or marks of the parties concerned.

When applying for a certificate from the Registrar General’s office (GRO) it is a copy of the returns made, NOT the original registers which are provided. Local register offices still retain the original registers if they have not deposited them with local archives which is increasingly the case. It is important to remember that with the making of copies, errors may have occurred.

If you cannot find a record by looking at the GRO indexes, then an application to the local register office is frequently successful.

The GRO holds comprehensive records of all births recorded in England and Wales from 1837 onwards plus records for some British Nationals born overseas; and it produces the indexes which need to be searched to locate a possible certificate.

To order the appropriate certificate from the GRO, you need to note details from the index entry:.

Information on a civil registration record is dependent on the informant’s knowledge. You cannot guarantee that the information given is correct.

Use the system to find certificates of other relatives in the parish where your ancestor lived. Finding cousins can also lead to grandparents.

The indexes are clinically alphabetical so search variations with names such as “Mc” or “Mac” or drop the “Mc” or “Mac”.

If the forename was not included on a registered birth entry, then the entry will show as just male or female followed by the surname listed at the end of the appropriate alphabet listing. You will need to have some idea of the place of birth in order to identify the correct registration district.

Obtain all available certificates to help build the full picture of the family; birth and marriage certificates are particularly helpful for finding or confirming information about the parents.

Middle names do not always appear on the indexes or the certificates. Many indexes only give middle forename initials.

The GRO online search now includes ages at death on death indexes and mother’s maiden name on birth indexes.

Remember that indexes can have omissions or errors.

Search within a range of years - plus or minus five/ten years of the estimated dates. Birth dates may have been adjusted and regarding deaths, the informant may not have known the exact date particularly at death. Some ages are known to be twenty years adrift.