Extracts from the GRO Indexes of Births, Marriages & Deaths in England & Wales from 1837
NB. These extracts have been transferred to The Guild of One-Name Studies searchable Electronic Archive. Please click here to find out the current situation on what you may search for.
Together with census returns, the Civil Registration of births, marriages
& deaths started in 1837 by the General Register Office (GRO) are the most
important tools for tracing a family in England & Wales. Similar records
exist for Scotland, but have not been extracted here. Our group is extracting
all instances of the surnames Sharwood & She(a)rwood up to 1912 initially,
although you will also find some other variants such as She/arrard, Sherhod
occasionally, and some later extracts. Please notify us of any errors or omissions
in these extracts, and we always welcome your extracts for periods not covered.
With over a 100 births per annum, this a time-consuming project!
What if I cannot find the entry I seek?
Try FreeBMD on line at FreeBMD.rootsweb.com
(over 30M records as at Dec 2007) or search the original indexes on microform at
your nearest repository for more unusual variants eg. Sharewood, Sharrard,
Sherrett, Cherrett etc.
Many names were wrongly spelt, either because the Registrar made an error, or
because a mistake was made during the indexing process. Until penalties were
introduced, not every birth or marriage was registered. When you have found the
event you seek in the index, how can you order a certificate & what should
you find on it?
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.
How can I order a certificate?
There are two ways you can get a certificate: | Order online from the General Registrar at http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/
| From the local Records Office relevant to the certificate | |
Obtaining a certificate from the GRO
You will need the GRO reference, that is the volume and page number given in the indexes. Certificates cost GBP 7.00 if ordered in person in London.
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.
Click here to view further partial BMD extracts contributed by researchers.