What is a birth certificate?

Local and family history A-Z > Births, marriages and deaths > Civil registration > Birth certificates

• A birth certificate gives you details that have been registered in the official register of births. In England and Wales, registering a birth has been a legal requirement since 1st July 1837, although penalties for non-registration were not introduced until 1875. The registration service is run by the General Register Office
• There are two types of birth certificate with different levels of detail:
• a short certificate giving only the child's full name, sex, date and place of birth
• a full certificate giving you a copy of all the details recorded in the register:
  the registration district and sub-district that registered the birth;
  the child's date and place of birth;
  first names;
  sex;
  father's name and occupation (usually not recorded in the early period if a couple were unmarried);
  mother's name and maiden name; mother's occupation;
  name, address and signature (or mark) of the 'informant' (the person registering the birth);
  name of the registrar;
  any first name given at baptism after the registration and registered later;
  administrative details
• The General Register Office has a collection of guides for researching your family tree including one on Birth Certificates

Page last updated: 19th June 2020