Indexes/Searches
Indexes
Every 3 months, each district Register Office sends a copy of their records to the General Register Office, who compile an index for the whole of England and Wales. This is sometimes called the St. Catherine’s House Indexes” or GRO indexes.
These indexes are available at Hampshire Record Office (Winchester), Portsmouth Central Library, Mormon Family History Centres and other locations in other counties. Unlike Register Office indexes, they can be consulted free of charge and can contain useful information in themselves. They also tell you the district and 3-month quarter” year in which the required birth, death or marriage occurred. Sometimes a baptism, burial, gravestone, probate record or family bible entry will have given you the date already.
A General Search can be made in the indexes at a Register Office (Registration Office) for a period not exceeding 6 hours at a charge of £18.
Although it is not comprehensive, many of the indexes from 1837 until about World War I are available online at:
(N.B. To search on this site, ignore the advertisement at the top of that page).
Searches
Armed with the names, dates and location / district you can then apply directly to the district Register Office that covers the registration district where the event occurred or to the General Register Office.
The cost of applying to the district Register Office is £7, which is fully refundable if the entry is not found. A maximum period of 3 years is searched, if required. An advantage of applying to the district Register Office is that a typed or handwritten certificate will be produced by direct reference to the original entry that was signed when the event was registered, as opposed to from a copy sent to the General Register Office.
A useful website that explains what information to expect from a certificate is :