General Chat

Freebmd is great but it doesn't give mmn before 1911 and so the GRO index has proved invaluable tracking births of 'unknown' children who were born and died between census. Yes the GRO index has a lot of errors but it also benefits from the options to use phonetic and similar names on both surnames so it is easy to pick up the spelling errors and mistranscriptions :-D

What hasn't been mentioned which the OP might consider ( though as no year was given it's possibly irrelevant) is that on some sites (for certain span of years eg up to early 1900s) you can view baptism images ( eg for London) which may also give birth dates and parents names and addresses. So it is always worth looking around, :-)

The GRO online search at their web site is woefully inadequate and only useful if you already have fairly precise data about the person you are looking for. Moreover it requires the searcher to have created a (free) account.

As well as being way incomplete they have not updated a single one of the transcription errors which were made when chunks of the handwritten index were typeset / typed up.

Best way to get the GRO index data then is to use FreeBMD which is brill on things such as wild card searches. Even better use the LRO in preference to GRO as fewer errors and cheaper!


A .pdf record - i.e. picture - is only £ 6 compared to £ 10 for a full copy cert.

The original certs are now hidden away from the public in an archive in Dorset. Many of them have interesting annotations which are now effectively lost.

The lack of open access to the GRO register post 2006 is a serious lapse in open government with consequences way beyond family history. It is also illegal not that that worries the present administratrion to any degree.

GRO offers a searchable birth index (from the drop down year options) to 1917 & deaths to 1957.

In case Christine is unaware, England & Wales civil registration didn’t start until late 1837 & it wasn’t compulsory to register a birth until 1873.

yes Sylvia but the GRO do not themselves offer a searchable index.

or go straight to the GRO (General Register Office) site .....

https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/

You do have to register but it is free. Just follow the instructions ...........

Order Certificates Online

Register/Log In (top line in the box to the right)

Register at the left



NEVER order birth certificates through any site such as GR, ancestry, etc as they will charge you much much more!

Certificates from GRO cost £9.25 anywhere in the world.


If looking for a birth before 1916, you can get a PDF emailed to you for £6

Best free site for accessing the St Catherine Index

http://www.freebmd.org.uk

which will give you the details need to buy a cert from GRO.

for the local reg offices go here

https://www.ukbmd.org.uk/local_bmd

No as GR don't have any indexes for BMD's.

You would need to send for the birth cert from the GRO in Liverpool.

What approximate year ?

They might feature in an index, but you can't view an actual birth certificate.

Is it possible to get a picture of apersond birth certificate on this site please