In 1836 an Act of Parliament was passed to record the births, marriages and deaths for the population of England and Wales. The General Register Office (GRO) was established and from July 1st 1837 there was an official requirement that all these events be registered.
Before 1837 there was no set precedent for recording this information nationally although churches did carry out baptisms and burials and these were recorded in local Parish Registers. Marriages could only take place in Anglican churches or by the Jewish or Quaker communities. Other religious denominations after 1837 could have their buildings registered to perform marriage ceremonies.
The GRO collected these returns from the local register offices and indexed these into a year by Quarters. The three month periods ending March, June, September and December. These indexes only provide the year and quarter the event took place and to obtain the full information a copy certificate would need to be ordered.
Before 1837 there was no set precedent for recording this information nationally although churches did carry out baptisms and burials and these were recorded in local Parish Registers. Marriages could only take place in Anglican churches or by the Jewish or Quaker communities. Other religious denominations after 1837 could have their buildings registered to perform marriage ceremonies.
The GRO collected these returns from the local register offices and indexed these into a year by Quarters. The three month periods ending March, June, September and December. These indexes only provide the year and quarter the event took place and to obtain the full information a copy certificate would need to be ordered.