Information on How to Obtain Birth, Death
and Marriage Certificates



Note: Information is 1992 therfore prices will have changed these will be updated as soon as possible
Disclaimer:The Author can not accept any responsability for any inaccuracies within this page, any enquires undertaken are done so at the readers risk

This Page is still Under Construction

Information Relating to England and Wales


If you know for certain which area your ancestors originated from, and you know the approximate date of their Birth, Death or Marriage, then it would be very much quicker if you write direct to the local Regixter Office in the known area. They will research their records for 5 years, in England and Wales for a cost of £5.50 for each of the required certificates. If they cannot trace your requirements then they will return your cheque of payment. A s.a.e. must be sent with your order. You will obtain a quick reply.

Civil Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages came into effect on the 1st July 1837. These are entered at the:
OPCS (Office of Population, Cencuses and Surveys).
General Register Office,
St Catherine's House,
10 Kingsway,
London
WC2B 6JP
UK.

If you wish to make a personal application for a copy of the certificates that you require, then you can attend the search rooms, at this address, free of charge. These are available for each year indexes in four quarterly volumes with names listed alphabetically and showing the district of registration. These search rooms are open from 8.30 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. on Monday to Friday (Except for Public Holidays). Any copy certificate orders are usually ready within 48 hours and cost £5.50 each, if collected personally. If they are sent by post they take several weeks befor you receive them. The records themselves are not available for scrutiny or searching.

Further Details:-
Births, the indexes from September Quarter 1911 onwards, also contain the maiden surname of the mother.
Marriages, the indexes from March Quarter 1912 and onwards, also show the surname of the second party to the marrages alongside the name and surname of the other party.
Deaths, the indexes from the March Quarter 1866 to March Quarter 1969 show the age at death. From Jume Quarter 1969 onwards the deceased's date of birth is shown.

Postal Applications for copy certificates should now be sent to:-

The General Register Office,
Smedley Hydro,
Trafalgar Road,
Birkdale,
Southport.
PR8 2HH
UK

a. A fee of £15.00 is required for a full Birth, Death or Marriage certificate and £13.00 for a short (abbreviated) birth certificate.

b. When the exact reference details are given from the Index at St. Catherine's House, the fee will then be £12.00 for a full certificate and £10.00 for a short certificate.

Search in the indexes will be restricted to cover a period not exceeding five years. If no trace can be found, agreeing from the particulars supplied by the applicant, a fee of £9.50 will be retained and the balance returned to you. Such applications will usually take several weeks before you receive them.

When application is made for a certificate it is normally necessary to give the date and place of the birth, marriage or death and the full forenames and surname(s) of the person(s) to whom the required certificate relates. In the case of applications for birth certificates the full names of the parents of the person concerned and the maiden surname of his mother should also be given. (If you do have these details)

It will be obviously be quicker, and very much cheaper if you send your postal applications direct to the Local Register Offices of the area concerned.

Information Relating To Northern Ireland

The General Register Office
Oxford House
49-55 Chichester Street
Belfast
BT1 4HL
Northern Ireland
This office holds birth and death registration records from 1864 onwards but only holds marrage registrations from 1922 onwards. Marriage registrations from 1845-1921 are held by Registrars at local District Council Offices.
Fees Payable (from 1 July 1992) for searches and Extracts.

Type of Certificate
Full certified copy of an entry of birth, death or marriage (including search) £5.50
Where two or more full certified copies of the same entry are applied for at the same time, the first copy will be charged at £5.50
and any additional copies at £3.50 each.
Where an applicant can supply full particulars including the register entry number and date of registration the fee will be £3.50
Short Birth Certificates £2.00
A shorth birth certificate shoes only the surname, name, sex,date of birth and (in most cases) the district of birth. Such a certificate id generally accepted for all purposes for which evidence of age only is required.
Certificate for certain statutory purposes £2.00
Search Only. For each five year period or part thereof £2.00
General search, birth, death and marriage indexes only for a period not exceeding six hours. To be booked in advance. (At least six months) £ 5.00
Each full certified copy issued as a result of a general search £3.50

Payments Cheques and postal orders should be made payable to the Register General and crossed. Applications from outside the UK should also include return postage.

Information Relating to Scotland

GENERAL REGISTER OFFICE FOR SCOTLAND Tel +44 31 314 4441
Fax +44 31 314 4400
New Register House,
Edinburgh
EH1 3YT
Scotland
UK

GUIDANCE FOR CUSTOMERS ASKING US TO SEARCH FOR A PARTICULAR ENTRY ("PARTICULAR SEARCH")
FROM 1 APRIL 1992

1. If you supply sufficient identifying information, we will search our records for any entry you specify. If the information you give seems insufficient for us even to begin we will tell you and will make no charge. If we begin a particular search, we will charge you for the work whether or not we are successful in finding the entry you asked for. We charge a particular search fee of £2.50 for a search in the statutory registers of births, deaths, marriages, adoptions or divorces (which have a computerised index) and £5 for a search in the pre-1855 parish registers or the open census records (1841-1891). For the statutory and parish registers, if we cannot trace the entry in the year you specify, we will try also the two years before and two years after.

2. If you apply by post or by fax rather than in person, our administrative costs are higher and we will also charge you a postal handling fee of £2.50. We do not accept orders by telephone.

3. If we find the entry you asked for, we will issue one or more extracts of the entry (or one or more abbreviated certificates if you specially ask for this instead) and we will charge you a document fee for each such extract or certificate that we issue following the particular search for that entry. The document fee is £5.50 per extract or certificate.

4. Thus, as an example, ordering by post a single copy of a full extract of your own entry in a register of births (your birth certificate) will cost you £2.50 plus £2.50 plus £5.50 = £10.50. If you order it in person at New Register House, it will cost £2.50 plus £5.50 = £8.00.

5. If you apply in person at New Register House, you may pay in cash, but please do not send us cash by post. If you order by post, we recommend you quote your Visa or MasterCard number (plus the cardholder's name, the expiry date and your signature, as they appear on the card) since this enables us to charge you exactly the right amount. {We do not know whether a document fee will be payable until we have actually traced the entry). If you order by fax, you must pay by Visa or MasterCard. Ordering by post, you may pay by sterling cheque. If you overpay us by more than £2.50, we will refund the overpayment by a cheque in pounds sterling, but it is not economic for us to make refunds of smaller amounts.

6. To summarise, we accept payment by these methods:

Orders made in person at New Register House:
Cash, Visa, MasterCard, Sterling Cheque with cheque card, Travellers' cheque in sterling.


Orders by post:
Visa, MasterCard, Sterling cheque.


Order by fax:
Visa, MasterCard.


OUR TARGETS
If you apply for a certificate in person at our public counter, we shall post it off to you - or make it available for you to collect here - WITHIN FIVE WORKING DAYS.

If you apply for a certificate by post or fax, enclosing the right information and the correct payment, we shall post it back to you WITHIN TEN WORKING DAYS of your letter arriving with us.

If you post or fax us an ancestry application - for information contained in the old parish registers or the open census records - we shall post the information back to you WITHIN FIFTEEN WORKING DAYS of your letter arriving with us.

If you need a certificate especially urgently, tell us why, and we shall do our best to help.

If you find there is any difficulty or delay in getting the certificates you want, please tell us:

- If you applied at the counter, ask for the public counter supervisor or telephone 0313144449

- If you applied by post or fax write to the postal unit supervisor or telephone 0313144446

GENERAL SEARCH
A general search is a search, over any period of years for any number of entries, made by any member of the public. Applicant must be age 16 or over.

Statutory registers of births, deaths, marriages and adoptions Parish registers (pre-1855) and census records (1841-1891)
General Search in the indexes to the statutory registers (per day or part thereof) £9.00
General Search in the parish registers and/or census records (per day or part thereof} £8.00
Inclusive fees
Search in the indexes to the statutory registers, in the parish registers, and in the census records (1841 to 1891)
per day or part thereof £15.00
per week £50.00
per quarter £300.00
Extract of an entry ordered during the period for which a general search is valid £5.00
Abbreviated certificate of birth ordered during the period for which a general search is valid £4.00

NOTES:
(A) If insufficent information is given for a search to be made, there will be no charge. Whenever particular searches are undertaken and the entries are untraced, the relevant fee will be charged for each specified event that is untraced, and for each period of 5 years or part thereof searched
(B) An abbreviated certificate shows only the name and surname of the person, date and place of birth, and sex
Information Relating to The Isle Of Man
REGISTRATION DISTRICTS
RAMSEY Masonic Buildings, Water Street.
PEEL Town Hall.
CASTLETOWN Castle Rushen.
DOUGLAS 23 Athol Street.

All records of Births, Adoptions, Marriages, Deaths and Burials are held at the
GENERAL REGISTRY,
Finch Road,
DOUGLAS.
Tel. No. (0624) 673358.

These records are available for public inspection.

Certificates and Search Fees
Full Certificate Birth, Baptism, Marriage, Death and Burial. £4.60
Adoptions £4.60
Short Certificates Births & Adoptions £2.30
Search Fees For each year or part search for each entry £1.70
All cheques are to be made payable to the Isle of Man Government.


Births Statutory records registered from 1878.
Baptisms Church of England baptisms only are held prior to 1878 (earliest records 1611)
Marriages Statutory records held relate to those registered in the Isle of Man since 1884. C of E and Dissenters marriage records are held from 1849 to 1883 and C of E records only prior to 1849 (earliest record 1629) Deaths Registered since 1878.
Burials C of E burials prior to 1878 to 1610.


ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Republic of Ireland

The Registrar General
Joyce House,
8/11 Lombard Street East,
DUBLIN.2.
Eire

If you require certificates from this area, they will cost:
Short certificate of birth £3.50
Full certificate of birth, death or marriage £5.50
A search fee of £1.50 is chargeable for each of five years
When applying by post applicants are advised to remit an amount sufficient to cover the search fee and the certificate fee.
Return to Home Page