If you’ve seen my book review on Organize your Genealogy, you’ll know that my intentions are to collect all my documents in Google Drive and create links to them in OneNote. Well, I’m pleased to say I have begun that process and I will write more about it in another post. One of the benefits of doing so is that I realized that while I had my great-grandfather’s baptismal record, I did not have his birth registration. I knew exactly where I had to go to find it -the website for the General Register Office (GRO). If you’re not familiar with this place, according to their website, “The General Register Office (GRO) is based in Southport, Merseyside and holds records for all births, deaths and marriages that have been registered in England and Wales from 1837.”1

If you are looking for birth, marriage, and death records for an ancestor born in England and Wales, head on over to the GRO website and create an account. For births (from 1837-1918) and deaths (from 1837-1957), you will then search the index to find the registration you are looking for. Once you have located the correct registration, you click on what kind of certificate you want. Note that the cost varies depending if you want it mailed or just a PDF, the type of certificate, and how fast you require it. This time I ordered the PDF (previously when sending away for documents this wasn’t available). I can tell you I am just as happy with the PDF copy as I am with the certificate copies that were mailed to me. Just make sure to download it and save it somewhere once you’re notified that it is ready, as it will only be available for 3 months. Since there were 5 males born with the same name as my great-grandfather, it was helpful to have the maiden name of his mother listed so I could pick the correct one. Apparently the death records also contain the age at death (thanks to the person who commented on my post over on Facebook for the tips!)

If you are looking for a marriage record, first you’ll have to search the index somewhere else to find the GRO index reference number (I recommend FreeBMD, it’s free). If you don’t search for the GRO reference, you’ll likely be charged an additional fee for the GRO to search for you when you send away for the certificate. From the PDF “The GRO Index Reference Number” on the GRO’s FAQ page: “A GRO index reference number typically comprises of a year, a quarter and the reference number that is shown in the indexes – for example ‘March 1954 2a 222’.”2 Once you’ve acquired the information, you can head back to the GRO website and click on “Place an Order.” Once you click the applicable radio buttons (including “I know the GRO reference number”) and enter the year, you’ll be taken to a page where you can fill in a form with the particulars.

For marriage certificates, there are no PDF copies, but you’ll eventually get some exciting mail! I always feel fancy when I get a letter that says “Royal Mail.” I highly recommend scanning your document and storing it somewhere where it won’t get damaged (not to mention somewhere where you’ll be able to find it again!). If you’re writing a source citation for these certificates (and you should!) check out this question on Evidence Explained.

Edit: another Facebook user has pointed out that these are *copies* of the original register that was sent to the GRO quarterly. For that reason, he prefers ordering BMD records from the local register office. To figure out which locality your register was located in, check out this page, and there is a list of local registry offices with contact information here. While you cannot get a PDF, the cost is the same as from the GRO to have a certificate posted to you.

1 “Frequently Asked Questions,” General Register Office, (https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/faq.asp : accessed 20 September 2019).

2 “The GRO Index Reference Number” General Register Office, (https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/images/CG4.pdf : accessed 20 September 2019).