Introduction

Civil registration of births, marriages and deaths was first proposed by Oliver Cromwell in the 1650s. But because the church was so powerful, it took on the role of recording christenings and marriages in Parish Registers.

Over the centuries, the increase in the number of non-conformist churches, and the persistence of Common Law marriages and unbaptised children was a problem for the wealthy who needed to define inheritance. This led to the introduction of a national system of registration and the introduction of a civil marriage.

The new law was not well-received. The Church of England did not like it because it eroded her place as the recorder of such events.

Queen Victoria introduced the legislation to the people of England and Wales and while everyone was supposed to register births, it was not compulsory. Originally, the registrars had to travel around and visit the people who had an event and make a note of the details. A new Act of 1874 removed this and it was up to the people to visit the local registrar office to record the event.

Civil registrations began in the middle part of the 19th century as follows:-

England & Wales - 1st July 1837
Scotland - 1st January 1855
Ireland - 1st January 1864

Indexes for births, marriages and deaths are available on micro fiche but contain basic details