The General Register Office: General information for guidance only.
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The GRO (General Register Office) for England and Wales was originally founded in 1836 by an Act of Parliament. Starting in 1837, its function was to record Civil Registrations of Births, Marriages and Deaths. Its CEO is the Registrar General.
Although he never became Registrar General, one of its most notable associates was the physician William Farr who started working for the GRO after his wifes death in 1838. Farr set up the mechanism to record the causes of deaths in such a way that they could be statistically analysed. Following epidemic outbreaks of the disease cholera in London in 1849 and 1853 which killed thousands of people, Farr gathered statistical evidence in support of his theory that the disease was spread by airborne pollution rather than water pollution. Although his theory was incorrect he was instrumental in providing the statistics that proved choleras transmission was via polluted water.
From 1972 onwards the GRO was combined with the newly established OPCS (Office of Population Censuses and Surveys) which operated in various divisions covering various functions to do with census and population statistics. The GROs head was now the Deputy Registrar General.
In 1996 the GRO became part of a new organisation called the ONS (Office for National Statistics) and the Deputy Registrar Generals office was combined into the Government Statistical Service.
Separate but equivalent government organisations exist for Scotland and Northern Ireland. This situation is further complicated by the fact that many records for Ireland were destroyed in the troubles around 1921 and that records for Northern Ireland previous to this date exist in Eire (the Republic of Ireland).
The duty to record the registration of births, stillbirths, adoptions, marriages and deaths was augmented by the addition of Civil Partnerships by an Act of Parliament in 2004 giving couples of the same sex identical rights and responsibilities to those of a civil marriage.
A central register was originally kept at Somerset House in London. This then moved to Saint Catherines House. Eventually, records were moved to the FRC (Family Records Centre) close to Exmouth Market in Clerkenwell.
Under the guise of saving money and after a public consultation that appears to have ignored the opinion that the facility should remain open the FRC was eventually closed in 2008 and the original record books were removed from public view forever. Facilities are now available in the National Archives at Kew and a few public libraries, however, the records available to the public will not be updated beyond 2006. Unfortunately they cannot compete with the magic of handling the actual records and the feeling of touching history.
If you wish to order a replacement copy of a certificate please click on the appropriate link below.
Order a replacement Birth Certificate
Order a replacement Adoption Certificate
Order a replacement Marriage Certificate
Order a replacement Death Certificate