Country wide civil registration of births, marriages and deaths commenced on 1 July 1837 in England and Wales. Registration took place at local civil registrars who in turn reported to the Registrar General at the General Register Office (GRO) in London. This national index to vital records is an essential source of genealogical information for family historians.
Since the original birth, marriage and death registers are not open to the public, getting access to the information on one of these certificates is done by first searching the national birth, marriage and death indexes, that have been created by the GRO for this purpose. The indexes for the three events are divided into volumes by year following which entries are listed alphabetically. Once an entry in one of the indexes is found, you are then able to use that information to order of copy of a death, marriage or birth certificate from the GRO. Information that can be obtained from the death index includes:
Note: The district listed is the district where the event was registered, not necessarily the location where the event actually occurred.
This database contains the death registers of the civil registration indexes from 1916-2005.
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England & Wales, FreeBMD Death Index: 1837-1915
This database is a searchable, digitized version of the indices of civil registrations in England and Wales, reported quarterly to the General Register Office (GRO) in London. This index spans the years between 1837 and 1915. You need the information found in an original index to request a copy of a death certificate for the individual referenced.London, England, Deaths and Burials, 1813-1980
This data collection consists of death and burial records from Board of Guardian Poor Law records and from more than 10,000 Church of England parish registers (including Bishop's Transcripts) in the greater London area from registers held at London Metropolitan Archives and Guildhall Manuscripts Section. The Board of Guardian records cover the years 1834-1906 while the parish registers cover the years 1813-1980.England & Wales, Marriage Index: 1916-2005
This database is a searchable, digitized version of the indices of civil registrations in England and Wales, reported quarterly to the General Register Office (GRO) in London. This index spans the years between 1916 and 2005. You need the information found in an original index to request a copy of a marriage certificate for the individual referenced.England & Wales, Birth Index: 1916-2005
This database is a searchable, digitized version of the indices of civil registrations in England and Wales, reported quarterly to the General Register Office (GRO) in London. This index spans the years between 1916 and 2005. You need the information found in an original index to request a copy of a birth certificate for the individual referenced.