Civil Registration

The General Register Office (GRO)

The General Register Office (GRO) was established on 1 July 1837 to register births, marriages and deaths in England and Wales and provide statistical information on them.

The GRO established a network of local register offices, working through the newly-created poor law unions. There was no legal penalty for non-registration until 1878, and so there are deficiencies in the registers before that date.
   
The GRO webpages can be accessed by visiting the following website www.direct.gov.uk/gro

England and Wales

Copies of certificates for England and Wales can purchased directly from the General Register Office (GRO) via its online ordering service www.direct.gov.uk/gro or by telephone on 0300 123 1837. Alternatively you can obtain an application form via http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/agencies-public-bodies/ips/general-ips-publications/certificate-application-forms/. Completed forms should be sent to the General Register Office, PO Box 2, Southport, PR8 2JD.

The indexes to births, marriages and deaths from 1837 are available through several specialist organisations and websites. You can also view the indexes at many local libraries or record offices. Further information can be found at: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Governmentcitizensandrights/Registeringlifeevents/Familyhistoryandresearch/DG_175464

Doncaster Area

The Doncaster Register office is located at Elmfield Park, Doncaster, DN1 2EB, telephone 01302 364922, or email registrars@doncaster.gov.uk. For further information please visit the Registration of Births, Deaths, Marriages and Civil Partnerships web pages.

Its registers date from 1837 to the present. Researchers may consult the indexes (not the original registers), but should make an appointment to do this.

Indexes to the civil register of births, marriages and deaths are available at the Doncaster and District Family History Society (FHS) Palgrave Research Room (charge to non-members), and Sheffield Archives, Lincolnshire Archives, Hull Central Library and Leeds Central Library.