GRO digital images £2.50

[Zaphod99]

I think the hundred years thing is only partly correct, as there are already birth GRO records available to 1934.

Zaph

[Wexflyer]

I think some Irish records may be free as well but that would need checking as the source for that said that Scottish records are cheaper than I've found them to be. Very happy to be corrected.

Helen

GRO birth registrations to 1923, marriages to 1948, and deaths to 1973 are available for a modest fee of €0.00, plus VAT, in Ireland.

Folks should inquire if the English GRO have a price match offer... 

[coombs]

About 4 years ago I ordered a paper copy and sent off for my uncle's birth in 1944, and did not have to provide proof I am related to him. In 2004 someone at the FRC in Clerkenwell said you can order a birth cert 50 or more years old without having to give proof of relationship.

[PaulineJ]

is there any way of reporting a useless digital copy?
Mine is mis-aligned, so Father may or may not have a first name, and I cannot see mother's first name at all.

She's ann at marriage (1859) , unseen on birth certificate(1860) , Lydia at birth address(1861) and Ann Eccleston (middle name) at 1864 baptism...

[Rosie (MaccHistorian)]

is there any way of reporting a useless digital copy?
Mine is mis-aligned, so Father may or may not have a first name, and I cannot see mother's first name at all.

She's ann at marriage (1859) , unseen on birth certificate(1860) , Lydia at birth address(1861) and Ann Eccleston (middle name) at 1864 baptism...

Yes, you can go on the website and report it. They will give you a refund and you can then buy the pdf instead. The digital image service Is fully automated, which is why it is so fast and so cheap. The pdf service needs someone to manually produce the copy so it takes longer and costs more, but you should then receive a perfect copy.

[MollyC]

I think the hundred years thing is only partly correct, as there are already birth GRO records available to 1934.

1934 happens to be the year where the indexing project ground to a halt.  However Mothers' Maiden Surnames are withheld from search results less than 100 years old, unless you already know the name and include it in the search.  Of course, these were always available in the old indexes from 1912 and can be found in FreeBMD.

[AntonyMMM]

I think the hundred years thing is only partly correct, as there are already birth GRO records available to 1934.

There is no 100 year rule relating in any way to civil registration records (in England/Wales). The only 100 year restriction, related to family history, is that governing the release of census records, from 1921 onwards.

ALL birth/marriage/death records are public and anyone has a statutory right to purchase a certificated copy of any entry whether that is from a few months ago, or a hundred and fifty years ago. GRO choose to make ordering what they define as "recent" entries more difficult by restricting access through the on-line system, but that isn't backed by any legislation, just by their own policy.

GRO indexes are publicly available ( up to the most recent quarter) but again GRO have decided to restrict the coverage of their own on-line indexes, even though they have previously made the same data available through other means ( e.g. Ancestry and FindMyPast).

[PaulineJ]

I have since realised That I also have a marriage for a Lydia to the namesake.
so:
Found and purchased the correct birth certificate (father was deceased) and
found newborn as an unnamed child in household of his Paternal grandfather .

It's s good day today

[Sloe Gin]

GRO indexes are publicly available ( up to the most recent quarter) but again GRO have decided to restrict the coverage of their own on-line indexes, even though they have previously made the same data available through other means ( e.g. Ancestry and FindMyPast).

Do you know if they are going to update the online Deaths index beyond 2021?