The ancient system of recording births/baptisms, marriages and burials in church or chapel register was not compulsory.
1837-1874
On 1st July 1837, the recording of births, marriages and deaths began. The country was divided into Registration Districts, each under the control of a Superintendent Registrar.
When civil registration was introduced, it was the responsibility of these Registrars to see that births and deaths were registered in their own sub-districts. Each Registrar gathered these records from the sub-districts and sent copies to the Registrar General in London, four times a year. The Superintendent Registrar for each district still retains the original documents in his/her Register Office.
Births
Note that parents were not bound to give birth information unless requested by the Registrar. Some were not truthful about the date of birth, as they had to pay if the registration was more than 6 weeks after the birth. Some parents thought baptism was a legal alternative.
Marriages
From 1837, marriages could take place in a local register office, instead of a church.
A new type of marriage register was introduced for all marriage ceremonies.
The Church of England, Jews and Quakers could conduct and register their own marriage ceremonies.
Other denominations (Methodists, Baptists, Unitarians etc) had to apply for their chapels to be licensed to conduct marriages and could only conduct a ceremony there if a Registrar was also present, in addition to the minister, to record the events in a Register Office marriage register.
This did not change till 1898.
From 1874
The Births and Deaths Registration Act made registration compulsory, imposing fines for late registration. The onus for registration of a birth was passed to the PARENTS, or the occupier of the house where a birth took place.
The responsibility for recording a death was placed on a relation of the deceased. The registration had to be supported by a certificate signed by a doctor, and the death had to be registered within 5 days.
From 1929
The Marriage Act raised the age of marriage with consent of parents to 16 years.
All births and deaths registered since 1837 are registered and indexed in both the local Register Office where the event was originally recorded, and in the General Register Office which is now located at the Family Record Centre in London and at Southport, Merseyside. Each place has their own set of independent records and indexes.
The public only has a right of access to the indexes. To obtain information from the records (registers) themselves, you have to buy a copy certificate.
Locations
These are commonly known as St Catherine's Indexes or General Register Office (GRO) Indexes, and the original volumes are available at the Family Records Centre in London. You may search these indexes on-line at two websites:
The General Register Office indexes are also available on microfiche locally in Devon, at :
Many main libraries, genealogical research centres and record offices in other counties of England and Wales, and in overseas countries, also hold microfiche copies of the General Register Office (GRO) indexes. You can use these before applying for certificates from the Southport office or from a local District Register Office.
Please contact the General Register Office at Southport to find out which libraries or other repositories near you hold microfiche of the GRO indexes, and for details of the locations of District Register Offices in England and Wales. Contact details are as follows:
Postal address: General Register Office, PO Box 2, Southport, Merseyside PR8 2JD, U.K.
Telephone: 0870 243 7788 Fax: + 44 (0)1704 55 00 13
E-mail: certificate.services@ons.gov.uk
Website: www.statistics.gov.uk/registration
Indexes to Births
The child's surname and first Christian name is given. Sometimes the full middle names are also given. From September 1911, the mother's maiden name is also included in the index.
Where a child was not named by the time of registration, it will be indexed under "male" or "female" followed by the surname.
Indexes to Marriages
Husband's and wife's names are not cross-referenced in the earlier indexes. It is necessary to look up both husband's and wife's names separately in the indexes and check that the reference number is the same, to be sure that you have found the correct marriage. From March 1912, the surname of the spouse is included i.e. when you look up the husband's name, you will also find the wife's maiden name.
Indexes to Deaths
Early death indexes - those from July 1837 to March 1866 - record the name of the deceased only. Indexes from March 1866 to March 1969 also give the deceased's age at death, and indexes from March 1969 also give the date of birth, if it was known by the informant who registered the death.
Special Notes
Children born before their parents were married should be searched for under both their mother’s maiden name, and their father’s name - in case the parents were living together under the pretence of having already married.
Many illegitimate children were registered with their father’s name as a middle name.
Up to 10% of marriages took place after the first or second child was born in the 19th century.
From 1837-1874, a mother registering an illegitimate child could name anyone as the father, without him being present. This changed in 1874.
Special Notes
Because a registrar had to be present at their chapels during a marriage, the pre-1898 marriages of Methodists, Baptists, Unitarians etc., will appear in one of the local District Register Office marriage registers.
However details of marriages which took place in a parish Church of England will only be available if a copy of the marriage register of that parish church has already been filled up, and deposited in the local District Register Office .
Local District Register Offices keep marriage records according to the place where the wedding was solemnized, and do not hold overall indexes to marriages. They cannot supply a copy certificate from the reference number found in the St Catherine's Indexes. Unless you can supply the name of the church, chapel or register office, they need to search a number of registers to find any entry.
It is thus desirable, and in fact usually necessary in these cases, to obtain a marriage certificate through the General Register Office at Southport or in person at the Family Records Centre in London.
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