Civil registrations in England refer to the government recording of vital events such as births, marriages, and deaths. These records, along with other records like censuses, allowed the government to keep track of its citizens, their movements, and make estimates their population. Civil registration also helped for accurate records for voting, planning, and taxation.
Civil records began in England in 1837, but there were gaps until they were more firmly enforced in 1874. Genealogists and researchers need to use church records to fill in the gaps when civil records are not in place for your location of interest.
MyHeritage has collections of indexed records for births, marriages, and deaths. Once you find a record in the index, you can order a copy of it from the United Kingdom's official website.
Research your ancestors on MyHeritage
History of civil records in EnglandHistory of civil records in England
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Civil records, also known as civil registration records, were systemically kept in England as early as 1837 and in all parts of the country in 1874. The implementation of English civil records was in line with a wider trend of civil records being kept across Europe in the 19th century, including in Germany, Hungary, and Italy.
All records are stored by the General Register Office (GRO).[1] In addition to England, they also have civil records for Wales. GRO makes it easy to order certificates. Death records are indexed up to 1957, while birth records go up to 1934. The most recent records may interfere with privacy laws.
There are separate processes for getting certificates in Scotland and Northern Ireland, for those interested in the larger United Kingdom.
Contents of civil recordsContents of civil records
Typically British civil records include detailed information about individuals and families, making them extremely valuable for genealogy research. The main types of civil records and what they generally provide:
- Birth records: Name of the child, sex, date and place of birth, father's name, mother's name including maiden name, father's occupation
- Marriage records: Full names of groom and bride, occupations, residences, ages of bride and groom, names and sometimes occupations of the fathers
- Death records: Deceased's full name, age, sex, occupation, date and place of death, cause of death
Where to find English civil registration recordsWhere to find English civil registration records
MyHeritage has huge indexes of hundreds of thousands of births, marriages, and deaths, which includes images of index pages:
- England & Wales, Birth Index, 1837-2005 on MyHeritage
- England & Wales, Marriage Index, 1837-2005 on MyHeritage
- England & Wales, Death Index, 1837-2005 on MyHeritage
Besides the MyHeritage collections, the GRO has guides to locating birth and death indexes online for 1837 to 1934.
One such alternative guide is FreeBMD, a famous resource to civil records in England since 1837. It is a free resource and more than 400 million records have been indexed to date.
Commercial databases also may provide you with access to indexes or actual records to British civil records.
See alsoSee also
Explore more about civil registrations in EnglandExplore more about civil registrations in England
- Unlocking English And Welsh Civil Registration Records on MyHeritage
- England - Birth, Marriage & Death records on MyHeritage
- Discover Your Family History by Gov.uk
References
- ↑ Research your family history using the General Register Office https://www.gov.uk/research-family-history