Indexes

Births, Marriages and Deaths

The General Register Office has compiled indexes to all birth, marriage and death certificates issued in England and Wales since 1 July 1837, when the system of Civil Registration began.

These indexes are held centrally at the Family Records Centre but copies are also available at a number of libraries and record offices. Wolverhampton Archives & Local Studies currently holds microfiche copies of birth, marriage and death indexes 1837-1997 as well as the Overseas indexes.

Advance booking of a microfiche reader is strongly recommended.

What information is included in the indexes?

Births, marriages and deaths each have separate indexes and are listed by year. Up until 1984, each year is divided into quarters and within each quarter entries are arranged alphabetically by surname. After 1984, there are annual surname lists.

The indexes themselves do not actually give a great deal of information but give enough details to obtain copies of certificates. The indexes will tell you the quarter of the year in which the event was registered and the name of the registration district. Some additional information is also included:

Birth Indexes

· Maiden name of mother in birth indexes from the
  September quarter 1911
· Exact date of birth of child in birth indexes from the March quarter   1976.

Marriages Indexes

Surname of spouse in marriage indexes from the
March quarter 1912.

Death Indexes

· Age at death from the June quarter 1866
· Date of birth in death indexes from the March quarter 1969.