Certificates

[Beavances]

Hi
Can anyone tell me if there are other ways of obtaining the information on birth marriage and death certificates in England other than finding the reference numbers on FreeBMD and then sending to the GRO office for a copy? I have used the Parish records  on line for baptisms and marriages - but these are only available for some counties
When I researched in Ireland I could just go to the office and obtain a certificate there an then and it was fairly cheap to do so. Thanks for any help

[Craclyn]

Buying from the GRO is cheaper than buying from other sources if you want a copy of the certificate. In some cases you may be able to find an image of the church record.

[groom]

It depends where the marriages took place. Ancestry have some of the London ones on line, something I discovered after buying several from the GRO.

[Glen in Tinsel Kni]

You can always use the local (to the event) register office, they won't want or need a GRO reference as they index events differently. What they will need is the name, year, quarter, district etc and any other info you can provide to help them verify they are issuing the correct certificate. Marriage certs are a little more difficult as they would need the name of the venue, each marriage place had a register to itself and within a district there can be dozens if not hundreds of venues. The local registrars need to know which set of registers to access initially.

Many local registrars supply a digital copy of the original register so all signatures are those of the people involved and none of the information has been transcribed multiple times like GRO certs will have been. The easiest way to find details for the registrars is to google the council website for  the area then search the council site for the registrars pages or for birth certificates. Either way you should find a page detailing historical certificate orders.

[KGarrad]

A certificate from the GRO will cost £9.25, includes postage & packing.

A certificate from a local Register Office usually costs £10 (sometimes more).

The laws regarding Birth, Marriage & Death Certificates (England & Wales) do not allow for cheaper copies.
So, in that case, a Parish Register entry is your best option.


I usually check GenUKI for the county and/or parish to check what is available where.