Maris Ancestry: Resources

Page One: BMD Information & Certificates

This page concentrates on sources of information related to civil registration of births, marriages & deaths for England & Wales. Page Two covers access to census information for England & Wales. Page Three includes a range of other resources which you may find helpful.

GRO Certificates

Birth, marriage and death certificates are the most effective way of identifying ancestors (and other relatives) and making the crucial links with earlier generations. Registration was introduced in England & Wales in July 1837. Whilst many BMD registrations were made voluntarily from 1837 onwards, it worth keeping in mind that registration was not made compulsory until 1875. This still did not guarantee comprehensive and accurate registration as, in some cases, inaccurate dates were provided to registrars as a means of avoiding penalties for late registration.

The GRO website gives full details of how to order. Charges are £11.50 for postal or telephone orders without the GRO Reference, £8.50 for postal or telephone orders with the GRO Reference and £7.00 for online orders. The latter require the GRO Reference to be provided. If you do not have the GRO Reference, but do have full details of names, dates and places, certificates can be ordered from local Register Offices at a charge of £7.00. Response times vary, but enclosing a s.a.e. is a good way of minimizing delays. For marriages, it is necessary to know precisely where the marriage took place so that the relevant register can be identified. For births and deaths, some registrars will search for a year or two either side of the date provided if there is some uncertainty. Changes in registration districts can make it difficult to identify the office which hold the appropriate registers. GENUKI has a useful list of registration districts in England & Wales. Most registration districts offering online search facilities provide a facility to download the partially completed application form to be posted to them with the fee.

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GRO References

The Registrar General's Indexes to Birth, Death and Marriage (previously known as the St. Catherine's House Index) take the form of quarterly lists giving names, ages (except early death indexes), registration district and GRO Reference. They are widely available on microfiche and can be consulted at the The National Archives at Kew, main libraries, local archive and records offices and at LDS Church Family History Centres. The Familia website has details of what family history records are available in each public library.

FreeBMD

The FreeBMD site has been of enormous help in easing the process of identifying GRO Birth, Marriage and Death registrations. Now that coverage is getting more comprehensive, it provides a good source for GRO References, but finding the index entry may be all the information you require. The Ancestry.co.uk Free BMD site is a useful alternative to FreeBMD. It holds an exact copy of the FreeBMD database and is also FREE to use. You do not need to be an Ancestry subscriber. The search facility, however, is not as flexible.

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UK BMD

Cheshire was the first county to set up its own index of Birth, Marriage and Death registrations some years ago. A number of other counties have since followed in their footsteps and some are now making significant progress. The UK BMD site allows you to identify whether there are such sites covering areas in which you are interested. Searches of local BMD indexes are free and, in most cases, certificates can be ordered by downloading a form and posting it with your cheque to the relevant Register Office.

We have made extensive use of StaffordshireBMD where coverage of marriages is particularly good. In the case of death registrations, local BMD indexes for the early years of registration can be better than FreeBMD or the ONS indexes as they may provide the age of the deceased.

findmypast.com (formerly 1837online.com)

If you do not have a copy of the Registrar General's Indexes within easy reach and prefer to search a complete copy, findmypast may be the answer for you. It is a "Pay per View" site with a direct link to the GRO certificate site for online ordering. Alternatively, full access to all findmypast.com resources is available by annual subscription.