Is there an order/System to the GRO indexes

[Brummygirl]

Just wondering if anyone knows if there is a Code/System/Order to the GRO Indexes


Brummygirl

[stanmapstone]

Not sure what you mean but,
Every birth, adoption, marriage, civil partnership or death registered in England or Wales has a General Register Office (GRO) index reference number. It usually consists of the year, volume number, page number and district in which the event was registered.
 http://www.rootschat.com/links/07od/   

The area the volumes covered and their numbers changed over the years. See "A Handbook to the Civil Registration Districts of England and Wales" by Brett Langston

Stan

[Brummygirl]

There is a reason i ask 

As i do a lot of Birmingham stuff and have worked this out
http://warwickshire-info.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/gro_index.htm

I just wondered if anyone else had noticed ?

Kindest regards
Brummygirl

[Little Nell]

I know I have read something which discusses this - it may be on here or it may have been in a magazine, about there being a system in which the records are ordered by either church or sub-district.

Unfortunately, without access to all the records, I don't know of a way to prove the veracity of it!

Nell

[Sloe Gin]

That's very well spotted  , and quite logical that they would use alphabetical order.  Very useful as a guide to where to look first.

[Brummygirl]

The part i have worked on for Birmingham Churches and Marriages is not complete and took me a while to do.

But it is a useful thing to know

The one thing i am not entirely sure about is where RC churches come into or other religions.

And i wondered if anyone else had noticed this for other parts of the country

Kindest Regards
Brummygilr

[c-side]

Apparently there is a system and a relative gave me chapter and verse on how to do it but I can't seem to find it.

She posts on here so maybe she'll see this and respond.

Christine

[c-side]

Found it in an email!

"for a given RD the page numbers within a quarter are sorted in alphabetical sequence of Anglican Churches,  followed by Register office and Non Con.
 
in Derby  (which only covers derby)  they knocked off the St bit so you get
 
 
All Saints
 
St Alkmund
 
St Chad
 
Christchurch
 
etc. 
 
then  the Non cons follow the Register office
 
 
if you go onto FREEBMD and download all records for a specific RD year and qtr,  you will get a text file,  which you cut and paste into an exel spreadsheet.
you can then sort it by page number  to get a clue where in the sequence you are looking at.   

Its then a matter of guesswork.  if its a later year,  find the last marriage for the qtr in the  last Anglican church,  then you can see your number falls off the bottom into RO / non con."

Sounds complicated and I've never tried it.

Christine

[stanmapstone]

There is an order in the GRO page numbering system for a particular Registration District.  The order the GRO filed the quarterly returns is usually C of E churches in alphabetical name order followed by any Non-conformist, Roman Catholic, Jewish, and Quaker marriages. The Register Office registers may come first or last. Each church makes its own Quarterly returns, and these returns are bound into the volume in the order shown above, and each new church starts on a odd numbered page. You can find the different churches by using what some people call "Cardinal Points"  which are the first and last marriages for each quarter for each church.

Stan