How to Search the BMD Index for England & Wales
Birth, Marriage and Death Certificates in the UK
Oct 3, 2009
Vital records are gold mines for genealogists – the question is where to find them. In England and Wales, the government began tracking births, marriages and deaths (BMD) at the General Register Office in 1837.
Where to Find the BMD Index
When civil registration began in 1837, local registrars made quarterly reports to the General Register Office (GRO) in London. These were compiled into quarterly registers for births, marriages and deaths. These registers are not open to the public; however, the GRO created an index for each vital records category, and genealogists can access the index.
The complete set of the BMD Index may be used in person at:
- The National Archives at Kew
- The Greater Manchester County Record Office
- The Birmingham Central Library
- The Bridgend Reference and Information Library
- The Plymouth Central Library
- The City of Westminster Archives Centre
How to Use the BMD Index Online
The easiest way to look up an ancestor in the BMD Index is online. Most of it has been digitized and is available at FreeBMD. It may also be accessed for a fee at Ancestry.com and other sites. The Index is also available on microfilm at some genealogy libraries. None of these have images of the actual civil registers.
- Enter as much information as known (type of record to search, first name, surname, spouse's or mother's first and surname, date of birth or age at death, and date range).
- Select the county and district if known, and click "find." Use the county name at the time of registration, which may be different than the modern county.
- If there are no results, or to widen the search, enter less information.
FreeBMD lets users see the actual index page to verify the transcription, add sticky notes with other information (and see what comments others have made), and with two more clicks, lets users see registration district information such as what dates an area is included in a different district.
Tips on Using the BMD Index Results
To show an example, a search for the birth of Charles Nutting in Warwickshire, 1870-1875 gave the following results:
- Charles Francis Nutting, Dec 1873, Aston, Vol 6d, Pg 250.
- Charles Nutting, Dec 1874, Birmingham, Vol 6d, Pg 133.
The date given is the quarter in which the event was registered, not necessarily when it took place. Births were required to be registered within six weeks, but could be registered as much as a year later with the payment of a fine. Marriages were usually registered right away. Deaths were sometimes registered immediately, but sometimes long afterwards.
The place is where the event was registered, not necessarily the home of the family. A marriage may have taken place in another district, a woman may have traveled to her mother's to give birth, etc.
The local districts were originally set up along the boundaries of the Poor Law Unions. Some towns were split between several districts, while some rural areas were large, and registration could be in a different town or even county than the residence.
When a desired BMD Index entry is found, read How to Order Certificates for the next step.
Vital Records in Scotland and Ireland
The BMD Index for the General Records Office in London only covers England and Wales. The rest of the UK and Ireland keep their own records:
- Scottish vital records are held at the GRO in Edinburgh.
- Vital records for Northern Ireland are at the GRO in Belfast.
- Vital records for the Republic of Ireland are at the GRO in Dublin.
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