Certificates

Topic Covered

• Birth Certificates
• Marriage Certificates
• Death Certificates
• Ordering a Certificate

As of September 1837 all Birth, Marriages and Deaths had to be registared. This started by registaring at your local church and now is now done at council offices and even online.

Although the registration was started in 1837 it was not inforced by law until a few years later as many priest advised people not.

All certificates are held by the GRO (General Records Office) and will have a GRO reference number which is a district, volume and page name.

There are three main certificates that we as family historians use; Birth, Marriage and Death.

Birth Certificates

An example of a birth certificate is shown below with a key underneath explaining the different columns

1. Where and When Born
2. Childs name
3. Sex
4. Name & Surname of Father
5. Name, Surname & Maiden Surname of Mother
6. Occupation of Father
7. Signature, description and residence of informant
8. When registered
9. Signature of registrar
10. Name entered after registration

Marriage Certificates

An example of a marriage certificate is shown below with a key underneath explaining the different columns

1. When Married
2. Name & Surnames
3. Age
4. Condition
5. Rank or Profession
6. Residence at the time of marriage
7. Fathers name and surname
8. Rank or Profession

Death Certificates

An example of a deathcertificate is shown below with a key underneath explaining the different columns

1. Where and When Died
2. Name & Surname
3. Sex
4. Age
5. Occupation
6. Cause of Death
7. Signature, description and residence of informant
8. When registered
9. Signature of registrar

Ordering a Certificate

You can order Birth, Marriage and Death Certificates online from www.gro.gov.uk.

To order any certificate you will need the GRO reference numbers, these come in form of a Volume and Page Number. To find these search on www.freebmd.org.uk