Searches of birth indexes
Superintendent Registrars do not have the staff to undertake searches of an indefinite or protracted nature.
Usually a search in the birth index, covering a period not exceeding 5 years will be made, but only where accurate details have been given of the original birth registration.
If a wider search is required, it is necessary for the applicant or someone on his/her behalf to make a general search in the indexes. For more information contact the Register Office.
General searches at a Superintendent Registrar’s Office
The indexes in a Superintendent Registrar’s office relate only to births, deaths and marriages, which occurred within the Superintendent Registrar’s district.
A general search is a search in the indexes conducted in person by the applicant or someone on his/her behalf, during any number of successive hours, not exceeding six.
By arrangement with the Superintendent Registrar, a person making a general search may have access to the indexes to the registers of births, marriages and deaths, but not to the actual register. A certificate of any entry may be obtained from the local Register Office on completion of an application form (50KB Word file) and on payment of the appropriate fee.
If a person making a general search is uncertain whether a entry in the indexes relates to what they are searching for, the Superintendent Registrar, on being given definite details by which the entry may be identified, will verify those particulars by reference to the register,. any additional information from the entry can only be made available in the form of a certificate.
For further advice on family and local history research, you are advised to contact:
General Register Office
ONS
Smedley Hydro
Trafalgar Road
Birkdale
Southport, PR8 2HH
Tel: 0845 6037788
Email: certificate.services@ons.gsi.gov.uk
