understanding birth, marriage & death certificates in uk family tree research
TRANSCRIPT
Using Birth, Marriage & DeathCertificates in UK family treeresearch
Family Ancestry Tips
familyancestrytips.com
free ancestry resources
Congratulations on takingthe first step in finding your
family history! Yourancestors cannot wait foryou to tell their stories.
It is vital that you focus onconfirmed facts in your
research to make sure yourfamily tree does not take a
wrong turn.
Welcome
If your ancestor’s life eventtook place on or after July 1,1837 then the GeneralRegister Office will hold theofficial certificate.
Prior to 1837 the parish churches wereresponsible for recording life events. Some havebeen transcribed and can be found online, but
many remain only in their original churchrecord books, which would require a visit to thelocal family history society or church to view.
The BMDIndexes
When searching for a GeneralRegister Office certificate you willneed to use the Birth, Marriageand Death Indexes. In order tosearch for a record you will needthe following:
FULL NAME
DISTRICT OF REGISTRATION
YEAR OF REGISTRATION
so... wherecan I findthe indexes?
The BMD Index is widely availableon all major ancestry websites.
Volunteers have also transcribedmost of the Index onto a free
database, linked below.
The Index splits each year into thefour quarters, so an ancestor bornlate in December may have beenregistered the following year in Q1.
www.freebmd.org.uk
Example of theBMD Index
Once you have the index details youcan apply for a copy of the certificate
from the General Register Office.
Their current response time is up to 2weeks at a cost of £9.50 per
certificate, or there is an expressoption. Delivery is available overseas.
www.gro.gov.uk
Readingthe
Certificates
SATURDAY JANUARY
The example certificates on thefollowing slides for Winston Churchill,
Arthur Conan Doyle and FlorenceNightingale (courtesy of the GeneralRegister Office) show the key facts
available and work as a useful guidefor your future reference.
how to read a birth certificate
how to read a marriage certificate
how to read a death certificate
What can belearned fromthese records?
Ancestor's full name
Mother's maiden name
Fathers full name
Spouse's full name
Family witnesses
Previous marriages
Cause of death
Surviving family
If widowed
SOWhat's Next?TAKE A COURSE
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