Marriage Birth and Death Records at FreeBMD
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FreeBMD contains currently contains 25,025,619 total records (23,219,229 unique records), and it is important that you specify your search properly in order to ensure that;
Your search does not return excessive numbers of records
You don't miss the record you want
The table gives details of the fields on the search screen, and suggests how you might use them to get the best results.
For all the name fields you can use a * to match any number of characters, e.g. Thorn* will find Thorn, Thorne, Thornton, etc. You can use ? to match exactly one character, e.g. Thorn? will match Thorne and Thorns but not Thorn or Thornton. However, see the note on matching in First Name.
When searching upper and lower case letters are treated as being the same.
Field	Comments
Type	Wherever possible you should specify whether you are searching for Births Marriages or Deaths, this will greatly reduce the time taken to complete the search
Surname	You should take care to try any variants of the surname. Many names were wrongly spelt, either because the Registrar made an error, or because a mistake was made during the indexing process
First Name (s)	In contrast to the other names, by default First Names are matched to names starting with the characters given (unless Exact match is checked - see below).
	Once again, beware of names that are wrongly spelt, particularly unusual names or names not spelt with the conventional spelling. Common names sometimes appear in the index using the conventional abbreviation for the name (e.g. William = Wm).
	Where the person you are looking for has middle names, this can be a great help in narrowing down the search, but you should remember that the middle names may have been omitted from the index, or shortened to initials. If the person you are searching for was called David William Robert (for example) This may appear as David W. R. or David W R or perhaps David W. Searching for David W* will give the best results
Exact match	If this box is checked the search for the First Name is done on the characters as typed. Otherwise the search is done as if a * was appended to the characters. If you check Exact match you can still use * and ? in the name.
Spouse's Surname	When searching for a marriage, entering a value here will ensure that records are returned only if another record on the same page matches the spouses details. Useful if you are searching for a marriage involving a common name.
Spouse's First Name (s)
Start Date	You should always specify as small a range of dates as possible to search, in order to speed up the search.
End Date	Remember that Births and Deaths at the end of a quarter may not have been registered until the start of the next quarter, and adjust your search dates to suit.
Volume	If you are searching for a common name, it may help to narrow your search down to a particular part of the country. A list of which part of the country is covered by each volume is given here
Page	This option is useful in researching marriages where it may be used to search for an unknown spouse (whose Marriage index reference Volume and Page details will be the same as that for their known spouse).
Options - Mono	Check this box if you are using a monochrome screen
Options - Match uncertain characters	Although a great deal of effort is put into ensuring the accuracy of the transcribed data, there are cases where the transcriber has not been able to read the original index entry properly. Clicking on this box will include entries which might match with your query, but where all the information is not available.
Districts	Where possible, all variant spellings of a district name have been amalgamated under one standard spelling, although in some cases it has not yet been possible to determine which of the known districts some entries relate to. These unknown districts appear in the list, suffixed by "***".
	If you know with reasonable certainty which district the event occurred in, you should select it from the list, along with any of the non standard entries which could relate to that district. Select multiple entries by holding down the SHIFT key before clicking.
Find	Find will start your search. It may be helpful in some cases to use the faster "Count" option to check whether your search will find a manageable number of records.
So you have found the record in the index ... the next step is to order your certificate.
Below we explain what you will find on the certificate and where you can get it from.
For further information on related topics about Civil Registration click here
What can be found on a Certificate?
The Certificates will show you the following :
Births :
District, Date & Place of Birth,
Child's ForeNames & Surname, Child's Sex,
Father's Name, Fathers Place of Birth, Father's Occupation,
Mother's Name, Mother's Occupation, Mother's Place of Birth, Mother's Usual Address,
Informant's Name, Informants Qualification, Informant's Address, Informant's Signature,
Date of Registration,Registrar's Name & Signature,
Child's Revised Name (if any, after registration).
Marriages :
District, Church, Parish, Location,
Date of Marriage, Forename & Surnames, Ages,
Marital Conditions, Professions, Addresses,
Father's Forename & Surname, Father's Occupations, for both parties present.
Witness names, Priest/Vicar's Name,& Signature
Deaths :
District, Location, Date & Place of Death,
Forename & Surname, Sex, Maiden Name,
Date & Place of Birth, Occupation, Usual Address,
Informant's Forename & Surname,
Informant's Qualification, Informant's Address,
Cause of Death, Signature of Informant,
Registration Date, Registrar's Signature.
Where can I get a certificate?
There are two ways you can get a certificate:
From the General Records Office
From the local Records Office relevant to the certificate
You need to bear in mind, however, that there are errors in the orginal indexes and in the transcription of the indexes carried out by FreeBMD. Great care has been taken by FreeBMD to ensure that the transcription is as accurate as possible but it is inevitable that there will be errors and FreeBMD cannot be held responsible for the consequences of these errors. You should check any entry with a copy of the index before ordering certificates.
Obtaining a certificate from the GRO
For current information on fees and current ordering procedures click here .
You will need the GRO reference, that is the volume and page number given in the search result.
Obtaining a certificate from a local Records Office
You need to find the Records Office that is relevant to the birth, marriage or death you are interested in. This can be found here where you can look up the registration district which then has a link (Registers now in...) to details of the local Records Office.
In order to obtain the actual certificate it is best to ring the office and find out what their process is for ordering certificates, as it does vary from office to office.
Note that the GRO reference, that is volume and page number, is not relevant to ordering from a local office. This can be seen as a benefit as it means that possible errors in the GRO reference do not impact getting a certificate, offsetting the extra effort in finding the right office.
FreeBMD Main Page
Pro birth cert request.pdf
Pro Death cert request.pdf
Pro marriage cert request.pdf
This section gives you information on how much it costs to order certificates and additional information you will need.
How to pay
Postal fees
Information
Fees at the FRC
How to pay
The minimum details required for a search to be carried out are the full names and approximate date of event.
Cheques and postal orders should be made payable to 'ONS'. Payment from abroad should be by international money order, cheque or draft (payable in London) in favour of 'ONS' and should always be expressed in sterling. If you are applying by post, please do not send cash. Payment can also be made by Visa, Access, Mastercard or Switch. Cash is accepted at the Family Records Centre (FRC).
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Postal Fees
Correspondence should be addressed to General Register Office, PO Box 2, Southport, Merseyside, PR8 2JD
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	Standard Service
	Full certificate of birth, marriage or death	£11.00
	Full certificate of birth, marriage or death with ONS Index reference supplied**	£8.00
	Full certificate of Adoption	£11.00
	Short (abbreviated) certificate of birth	£11.00
	Short (abbreviated) certificate of birth with ONS Index reference supplied	£8.00
	Short (abbreviated) certificate of adoption	£9.50
	Extra copies of the same certificate can be issued at the same time for a fee of:
	Full certificate of birth, marriage, death or adoption	£6.50 each
	Short (abbreviated) certificate of birth	£6.50 each
	Short (abbreviated) certificate of adoption	£5.00 each
	Priority Service
	A Priority Service is also available. Certificate will be despatched to you on the working day following receipt of your application.
	Full certificate of birth, marriage, death	£27.00 each
	Short (abbreviated) certificate of birth	£27.00 each
	Full certificate of birth, marriage or death with ONS index reference supplied**	£24.00 each
	Short (abbreviated) certificate of birth with ONS index reference supplied*	£25.50 each
	** The lower postal fees apply only where the exact General Reference Office index reference is supplied. However, if the index reference quoted is incorrect, an administrative/checking fee of £4.50 will be charged for the first reference checked, and £3.00 for each subsequent reference on the same application.
	Click the appropriate link to download an application form in pdf format
	Birth | Marriage | Death
	If you require a certificate you can:
	Order by telephone on +44 (0)870 243 77 88
	Fax +44(0)1704 550013
	If you require a certificate urgently you can:
	Order by telephone on +44(0)151 471 4572
	Fax +44(0)1704 568315
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	Information
	Cancellation Fees
	If, after placing an order, you subsequently cancel your order and the certificate has been produced, no refund will be given.
	If the cerificate has not been produced an administration fee of £4.50 will be charged. If you have placed your order using the Priority service the priority fee of £16.00 will also be retained.
	Notes
	Applications received by post, electronically or by telephone for certificates quoting a GRO reference index will be processed and posted out within 5 days (excluding weekends and bank holidays).
	Applications received by post, electronically or by telephone for certificates for entries after 1900 quoting a specific date (day, month and year of event) will be processed and posted out within 15 days (excluding weekends and bank holidays).
	Applications received by post, electronically or by telephone for certificates for Family History purposes or not quoting a specific date of event to be processed and posted out within 20 days (excluding weekends and bank holidays).
	An abbreviated certificate shows only the name and surname of the person, date and place of birth and sex. If applying for a short certificate you must supply full particulars (Name, date and place of birth, parent's names and mother's maiden name)
	If you apply by post and the certificate you require cannot be found, a refund of £6.50 will be issued.
	Please note that it is uneconomical to make refunds of £2.00 or less. For applications received from overseas the minimum amount is £5. Small amounts will not be refunded unless specifically requested.
	Apostille - If your certificate requires legalising by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, we can arrange for this to be done on your behalf providing you enclose the Foreign and Commonwealth Office current fee, along with the name of the country requiring legalisation. For this service, this office will charge an administration fee of £3.00
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	Fees at the Family Records Centre (FRC)
	You can also apply in person to:
	The Family Records Centre
	1 Myddelton Street,
	London EC1R 1UW
	Standard Service
	Full certificate of birth, marriage, death or adoption	£6.50
	Short (abbreviated) certificate of birth	£6.50
	Short (abbreviated) certificate of adoption	£5.00
	Priority service (24 hour service excluding weekends and Bank Holidays)
	Full certificate of birth, marriage, death or adoption	£22.50
	Short (abbreviated) certificate of birth	£22.50
	Short (abbreviated) certificate of adoption	£21.00
	Please note that for applications made at the FRC an administrative charge of £3.00 will be retained if:
	the GRO index reference quoted is incorrect
	the details and checking points quoted do not correspond to the entry
	In both these cases, a certificate will not be produced.