Birth, Marriage, and Death certificates are key sources for family history research, but the original certificates have rarely survived.

In England & Wales copy certificates are available both from local Register Offices and from the General Register Office (GRO). Certificates can be ordered from the GRO by post, over the telephone, or online. It was formerly possible to order certificates at the Family Records Centre in London, but the centre has now closed.

HOW DOES A COPY CERTIFICATE DIFFER FROM THE ORIGINAL?

If you order a copy certificate from the GRO, the information is taken from the GRO registers. The certificate you receive will usually be photocopy of the handwritten entry, but occasionally it will be typewritten, or even handwritten by GRO staff, presumably because the entry has faded.

Beginners often assume that because the information is handwritten, it was written by the local registrar, and that in the case of marriage certificates the signatures of the bride, groom, and witnesses are their autograph signatures.

Unfortunately this is not the case - the GRO registers are merely copies of information received from the local register office. However, some - but not all - local register offices will provide certificates which are copies of their register entries.

WHAT IS THE ALTERNATIVE?

Prior to July 1, 1837 there was no Civil Registration system. The only records routinely kept were of baptisms, marriages, and burials. Although burials invariably took place shortly after a death, some people were baptised in adulthood (and others were not baptised at all).

From 1837 onwards the information recorded in parish registers in respect of marriages is identical to that which appears on a marriage certificate. If your ancestor married in church then a copy of the register entry is as useful from a genealogical standpoint as a certificate.

PITFALLS TO AVOID

Because a certificate is an official document it is possible to be over-reliant on the information it contains. Certicates can, and often do, bear inaccurate information. For example, ages on marriage and death certificates are often wrong, and in particular whilst 'full age' implies 21 or over, experience shows that it often conceals an under-age marriage (someone who was under 21 and should have obtained their parent's consent).

Of course, the biggest danger is that the certificate refers to somebody different altogether. Usually you will have sufficient corroborating information from other sources, but this won't always be the case.

HOW TO OBTAIN BMD CERTIFICATES

It is normally easier to order certificates from the GRO than from local register offices, as the GRO indexes can be inspected online - though currently not at the GRO site, or the DirectGov site that acts as a portal for certificate ordering.

It's much cheaper to order certificates if you can provide the full index reference. The FreeBMD site lists over 100 million births, marriages and deaths, mainly between 1837 and 1920, but the most complete set of indexes is at findmypast.com. The main indexes can also be found at Ancestry.co.uk