There are two sets of Birth, Marriage and Death indexes in the UK – the original indexes held by the local register offices and a secondary index created by the General Register Office.

Since 1837 all births, marriages and deaths in England and Wales have had to be registered at the register office in the district where the event took place.  In Scotland such registration became compulsory for all in 1855 and for Ireland it was 1864 for births & deaths and 1845 for marriages. Genealogists and Family Historians can make use of these registrations to help create their family tree, working backwards to the start of civil registration.

The original indexes to these registers are held by the local register offices and many of these indexes are now being transcribed by the local authorities in conjunction with Family History Societies, and the data placed on-line in a variety of web sites.

Quarterly, the original indexes were re-transcribed and then re-indexed by the central government and these indexes have been made available as the GRO indexes.

The General Register Office for England and Wales now oversees the registration of births, marriage, civil partnership, deaths, stillbirths and adoptions for England and Wales.

Every birth, adoption, marriage, civil partnership or death registered in England or Wales has a General Register Office (GRO) index reference number. It usually consists of the year, volume number, page number and district in which the event was registered.

You can view GRO indexes online through several specialist organisations and websites, or you can view the indexes at a library or office in your area.

Viewing full copies of the indexes

Copies of the indexes can no longer be purchased but a complete set, including ‘Births, Deaths and Marriages from 1837 – 2007’, ‘Overseas from 1761 – 2007’, ‘Civil Partnerships from 2005 – 2007’, ‘Adoptions from 1927 – 2007’, and the provisional indexes for ‘Births and Deaths for 2008’, is available at:

• Greater Manchester County Record Office
• Birmingham Central Library
• Bridgend Reference and Information Library
• Plymouth Central Library
• City of Westminster Archives Centre

These locations get updates for you to view in person.

Or you can view the information online and receive the following information instantly:

• Birth Records that include date, case, number, filings, parents, and addresses.
• Death Records that include date, case, number, filings, name, age, and relatives.
• Divorce Records that include filing type, date, case, location, name, age, and properties.
• Marriage Records that include date, location, name, age.