Research
Investigating your family tree
We provide certificates of birth, marriage, death, adoption, and stillbirth; these certificates are certified copies of records held for events which took place in England and Wales between 1837 and 18 months prior to the present date.
Adoption records date back to 1927. They do not hold information that would link it back to the original birth certificate.
Orders for certificates can be made online, by post, phone or fax. Alternatively you can apply to the register office where the event was registered. For more details see Ordering certificates.
For records in Scotland or Northern Ireland, see Other General Register Offices for their contact information.
If you are looking for an overseas record, our Overseas Section might be able to help you. Please be aware that, because we are not automatically notified of events that happen to British subjects overseas, our records are not exhaustive. See Searching for overseas records for further information.
The main sources for searching for records prior to 1837 are Church of England parish registers and records of other faiths.
Please note that although we can help you to access many records for your research, we do not offer the same services as a professional genealogist.
