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Family tree: guide to birth certificates
How to use the General Register Office to find birth certificates when researching your family tree and family history.
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Details
This guide explains:
- how to find your ancestors’ birth certificates
- how much it costs to order a birth certificate
- what information you’ll find on a birth certificate
- how to order birth certificates online, by phone and by post
- information about PDF records
- information about our online view digital image service
The guide also includes tips on what to do if you can’t find your ancestors in the General Register Office’s public index of every birth recorded in England and Wales since 1837.
Published 22 January 2016
Last updated 6 July 2023 + show all updates
Last updated 6 July 2023 + show all updates
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Updated to include the online view service.
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New guide to birth certificates leaflet.
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First published.