INDEX TO CHILVERS BIRTHS, MARRIAGES & DEATHS, WHICH HAVE BEEN EXTRACTED FROM PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE SOURCES

CIVIL REGISTRATION

The requirement to register a birth, marriage or death came into effect on 1 July 1837 in England & Wales. The indexes of all registrations since that date were open to inspection by the public at St.Catherine's House (General Register Office) but now are available at The Family Records Centre, 1 Myddleton Street, London, EC1R 1UW. (http://www.familyrecords.gov.uk/) Postal applications for certificates should be made to the General Register Office, Postal Applications Section, Smedley Hydro, Trafalgar Road, Birkdale, Southport, Merseyside, PR8 2HH. http://www.statistics.gov.uk/registration/.    U.K. applicants can order certificates on line at http://www.col.statistics.gov.uk/

Copies of certificates can also often be obtained from local Register Offices.

The indexes have been transcribed on a number of occasions and handwritten up to 1865 thereafter typewritten. The handwritten indexes are being gradually replaced by typewritten indexes. The indexes have been microfilmed but are not always very clear so that when my wife and I extract the CHILVER(S) we are liable to inject more errors. Hence my disclaimers!

Up to 1983 Births, Marriages & Deaths are in separate indexes, each covering the preceding three month period and dated March, June, September and December, each quarter being indexed in alphabetical order. From 1984 the indexes are arranged in alphabetical order for the full year.

Note that the quarter in which the event took place is not necessarily the quarter in which it was registered!

The indexes only give the Surname, Christian names, name of the Registration District, Volume and Page reference. It is these details which you have to supply (preferably on an application form) for a copy of the certificate that you require. For an additional fee a search over a period of five years can be arranged. Please go the G.R.O. web site for details.

From 1837 - 1851 the Volumes (main areas) were indexed in Roman Numerals but for the ease of indexing my database I converted them to the Arabic numbering system. From 1852 onwards the Volumes are numbered in Arabic numerals anyway. There were also boundary changes in 1852, 1946 & 1974 so that the areas are not always the same. For example Norfolk (later 4b) in 1837 - 1851 was XIII but at that time it included about one third of Suffolk. So beware!

In 1946 the areas of some Registration Districts were substantially amended and  some numbers were reallocated.

The following web site shows some of the changes.

http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/RegOffice/

Maps showing the Registration & Census Districts have been produced by The Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies.

If you are interested in an index of the Registration Districts I recommend a booklet by Ray Wiggins entitled interestingly enough "Registration Districts".

BIRTHS

During the early years of civil registration many births, particularly those of illegitimate children were not registered. Until 1875 when it became compulsory there was no penalty to do so. From the September quarter 1911 the birth indexes give the maiden surname of the mother.

MARRIAGES

After December quarter 1911 the Marriage Indexes give the maiden name of the bride alongside that of the groom and vice-versa. From this date then it is possible to cross index to check for correct entries.

Note that the indexes on my web site also include some earlier spouses where I have been able to determine them from other sources.

DEATHS

From 1866 onwards Death Indexes give the age of the deceased at death.

Some of this information has been extracted from "The Family Historian's Enquire Within" by Pauline Saul and I commend this book to you as a very good book of sources.

THE CHILVERS INDEXES

Please note that there is "many a slip" etc. There are errors in the original indexes and we may have added a few more, so do double check any references that you use (and please let me know about of any errors found). Years will be added as time permits.

From 1837 - 1851 the Registration Districts were labelled with Roman Numerals. I have converted those records (volume number) to plain numbers to make my databases behave logically. So when requesting certificates from that period please bear that in mind. Some Registration District boundaries were changed for 1852 - 1946. There were later changes but I am unlikely to index these records (unless S.K.S. volunteers to help).

For those who enjoy statistics, I have displayed the numbers of records indexed so far. The CHILVERS population growth only includes Registration Districts in England & Wales and does not take migrations into account.

The tables are best viewed using a VDU display set to 800 x 600 pixels.

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The "Q" column represents the index quarters March, June, September, December and "E" a birth, marriage or death event.

This page was updated in June 2004