Civil Registration began in England and Wales on July 1st, 1837, the year in which Queen Victoria came to the throne and continues to the present day. The Civil Registration records are divided into three events, Births, Marriages and Deaths.

Prior to 1837 many of the Birth, Marriages and Deaths were recorded in the Parish Records. For further information please see the section on Parish Records.

The records can be divided into two categories. First the Registers which contain precise and detailed information kept by the General Register Office (GRO). The Registers are not open to the public and therefore no access is provided of any kind, nor are they available on https://www.familyrelatives.com//. The Registers provide the information that is used for Birth, Marriage and Death Certificates.

The second category is the Indexes to the Registers which enable the public to search for family relatives and provide the information which enables a certificate to be ordered. The Indexes like the Registers, are organised firstly by year, then by quarter, with the surnames in alphabetical order.

Familyrelatives.com has the Civil Registration Indexes for England and Wales from 1837 - 2005 - these are the Births, Marriages and Deaths indexes which will allow you to locate the reference for the Certificate. We have made 600 million records available of which over 150 million are fully searchable on Surname, Mother's Maiden Name, District, Year and Quarter as well.

1837-1865 - Searchable on Surname range and Browseable
1866-1920 - Fully Searchable on any criteria
1921-1983 - Searchable on Surname range and Browseable
1984-2005 - Fully Searchable on any criteria