I. WHAT IS CIVIL REGISTRATION?
Civil
Registration is the recording of births, marriages, and deaths by the
government. Civil Registration did not begin in
A. HISTORICAL
DEVELOPMENT
1.
2. Births and deaths are reported to
the local Superintendent Registrar by a relative, friend, or other person
present at the birth or death.
3. Records of marriages are compiled at
the place where the marriage is performed. Superintendent Registrars receive
the filled books and forward copies to the General Register Office.
4. The original records are kept by
local Superintendent Registrars.
5. Copies of all birth, marriage, and
death certificates are sent to the General Register Office every three months.
B. TIME PERIOD:
1 July 1837 to present
C. CONTENT OF
RECORDS
1. Birth
Certificates
a. Christian
name entered at time or after registration
b. When and
where born
c. Sex
d. Name,
surname, and occupation of father
e. Name and
maiden surname of mother
f. Signature,
relationship, and residence of informant
g. When and by
whom registered
2. Marriage
Certificates
a. When and
where married
b. Name and
surname of bride and groom
c. Age, profession,
and marital condition of bride and groom
d. Residences
at the time of marriage
e. Name of the
father of bride and groom (usually states deceased, if father is deceased at
the time of marriage)
f. Signature
of witnesses
g. When and by
whom registered
3. Death
Certificates
a. Name and
surname of deceased (after 1 April 1969, maiden surname of married woman given)
b. When and
where died
c. Cause of
death
d. Sex, age,
and occupation of deceased (after 1 April 1969, date and place of birth are
given)
e. Signature,
relationship, and residence of informant
f. When and by
whom registered
II. AVAILABILITY OF RECORDS
A. The indexes
are being transcribed and placed on the web at freebmd.rootsweb.com. Check there first.
B. Copy
certificates and indexes, 1837 to the present are at the Family Records Centre
in
C.
The original certificates with indexes for 1837 to the present are available
at local Superintendent Registrars' offices. These offices have records for
their own district only and their indexes and page numbers do not match those
of St. Catherine's House.
D. Indexes by name of person for births,
marriages, and deaths from 1837-1980 are available at the Family History
Library on microfilm (see Reg 942 V2ic). The
certificates of births, marriages, and deaths are not in the Library.
E. Several
web sites are available for a fee, including www.familyrelatives.org, www.findmypast.com (free at FHL), and
others.
III. HOW TO OBTAIN CERTIFICATES
A. Steps to
take in determining the type of certificate you are looking for:
1. Did the
event you are researching happen:
Before
1837?----------------------------------------See
Reference Consultant
Between
1837 and the end of 1980?--------go to step 2
After
1980?-------------------------------------------See
Reference Consultant
2. Use the Index
to the Civil Registration of Births, Marriages, and Deaths for England and
Wales (Reg 942 V2ic, or item 3 on film number
990,269 or on the Internet at http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/RG/frameset_rg.asp?Dest=G1&Aid=&Gid=&Lid=&Sid=&Did=&Juris1=&Event=&Year=&Gloss=&Sub=&Tab=&Entry=&Guide=Civil_Registration_Births.ASP).
Locate the year of interest. Note that each year is divided into quarters (the
1st quarter being the months of January through March, the 2nd being April
through June, etc.)
Example:
|
Year of Birth |
Quarter/Alpha
Surname |
Microfiche and
Microfilm Numbers |
|
|
|
|
|
1837 |
July - September A-Z |
6101914 (6) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
A-B C-Z |
557005 549928 |
|
|
|
|
|
1837 |
October - December A-Z |
6101915 (7) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
A-H I-Z |
557006 549929 |
The
birth, marriage, or death is in the register according to the date of
registration, and not the event date, so you will probably need to search more
than one quarter.
3. Find the
film(s) or fiche(s) you wish to search. The names are listed alphabetically. More
than one probable entry may be found.
The
indexes give information as shown in the following example:
NAME DISTRICT VOLUME PAGE
Smith,
Sarah Lambeth 2a
299
4. Was the probable entry found?
More
than one possibility?------copy down information &
see Consultant
One
possibility?---------------------copy down information
and go to step 3
No
possibility?-----------------------see Consultant
B. Copies of
certificates may be obtained by mail.
1. Applications
for birth, marriage, and death certificates can be sent to one of the two
following addresses:
a. General
Register Office
Smedley Hydro
The
cost of each certificate obtained by mail from the General Register Office is ^13 (approximately $20, which
includes $1.50 for return postage). For the above mentioned fee, one must
obtain an international money order or bank draft in pounds sterling.
b. The office of the local Superintendant Registrar for the district in which the event
took place. The addresses of the superintendent registrars may be obtained from
The Official List 1993 (Ref Q 942 V2g 1993; 1983 edition on film #
897356).
Officials
of these offices are not required by law to help patrons, but most often will.
The cost of a certificate from the local office is ,6.50 (approximately $10). The local
registrars may search larger time periods for less money. However, you need to
know the district where the event took place (was registered). However,
registrars in the
2. A civil
certificate for birth, marriage, or death in
a. The indexes must be searched and the
appropriate entry located for the individual for whom you are looking.
b. You make
note of the information located on the filmed index; i.e. year, quarter of the
year, name of the individual(s), district, volume, and page number and include
all of that with your request.
c. You send your request by phone or fax
with a valid credit card number & expiration.
e. You send
your request with an International money order made out in pounds Sterling (£).
See Ruesch International for low cost cheques.
C. Which to use: The General Register
Office or the Local Registrar?
1. Follow these general rules:
a. Apply to The
General Register Office
i. For
a short search
ii. When you have some details
iii. If you are not sure where the event took
place
b. Apply to the local Superintendent
Registrar
i. For
broader searches
ii. If you have
few details
iii. When you are sure of where the event
took place
D. For a step-by-step procedure in obtaining
a certificate, reference can be made to the research paper Flow Charts,
Series A, No. 49 (929.1 G286gs), or to the hand-outs at the British
Reference counter.
IV. WHY OBTAIN BIRTH, MARRIAGE, AND DEATH
CERTIFICATES?
A. They list
the date and place where the event took place -- including an exact street
address where the family or person resided, and addresses on certificates may
prove valuable in census searches.
B. They give names of persons, such as
witnesses, etc., who may be related.
C. They often list occupations, which may
lead to other record sources.
D. They list approximate ages on death and
marriage certificates. A knowledge of the person's age at the time of marriage
or death will help in determining the time period for searching in the parish
registers for the christening entry.
E. Other places of residence may be found
by obtaining all certificates for an individual or family. If all certificates
are obtained for a family, the movements of the family may be traced.
F. Information on birth and marriage
certificates can be used to submit names for temple work.
Things to Remember
1. It may be
necessary to search five or more years in the indexes, if a reference is not
found at the time that the event supposedly occurred. It is very common for
birth dates to be off several years in family records.
2. The indexes are arranged by time of registration, not event
date. It could be a person was registered several months after the event took
place. It is common to find the event registered in a quarter following the
event date, rather than in the same quarter.
3. Starting in
1865, the death indexes give the age of the deceased. An age of "0"
(zero) means that the person was less than one year of age.
4. Starting in
1911, the maiden name of the mother is given in the birth index.
5. Be sure to check all variations of the surname since the
indexes are strictly alphabetical, and surnames may be spelled in a variety of
ways. This is because the registrar spelled the name as he heard it (for example:
Smith = Smithe, Smyth, Smythe).
6. In the birth
indexes, the children who were registered without a given name are listed at
the end of a surname section as male or female, so if you cannot find a
person's birth registered under their given name, check the female/male surname
listings. Example:
Brown, William
Brown, Zachery
Brown, female
Brown, male
7. In marriage indexes, the same information is given for the
bride and groom. Example:
John Alfred Brown
Alice Smith
Because
the information is the same, it is easier to determine the right bride/groom
match in cases where the index shows several people of the same name. However,
there are more than one entry per page, so it is not possible to search all
names to find matching entries.
8. Only
registration district names are given on the civil registration indexes, so the
second column in the microfilm index is the district your ancestor was
registered in and not the parish or town where they lived, or where the
event took place. If you are unsure or do not know the name of the district for
the event place, look up the place name you have in the Imperial Gazetteer
of England and Wales (FHL call number Ref 942 E5i, vols. 1-6), where the
district names are given. Other reference aids for determining registration
districts are Census, 1961,
1. Herber, Mark.
Ancestral Trails. pp. 36-56
2. Check
out the web sites www.findmypast.com (free
at FHL) and www.familyrelatives.org.
3. Read the six
England and Wales, How to Use guides on FamilySearch Research Helps at http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/RG/frameset_rhelps.asp?Page=./research/Placee/Placee.asp&ActiveTab=Place
4. England Research Outline, (FHL
Outline ENG 1) section on Civil Registration
5. Family Tree Detective (Colin
Rogers, FHL Ref 942 D27r 1997) pp. 15-44; 1401-1568, 180-189
6. The Family
History Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. English-Welsh Genealogy Research Procedures - Flow Charts.
929.142 G286gs Ser. A, No. 49, charts 1-3.
7. Gardner,
David and Smith, Frank. Genealogical Research in