Searching Ancestry’s UK Birth, Marriage & Death Indexes for 1837 to 2005

Before starting your search of our complete Indexes for England and Wales, here’s some valuable advice to help ensure your search success.

What’s an index and what will it tell me about my ancestors?

These records are indexes, similar to an index in a book. Their primary use is in giving you the information you’ll need to go and order a Birth, Marriage or Death Certificate. They won’t tell you who they married, the date they married, mother's maiden name or the exact location of the marriage for example - you’ll need the certificate for this.

So, if you already know this information or are within contact of another family member who does, then speak to them first and use the time available to start by building your tree for free instead.

Searching for your UK Ancestors between 1911 and 1983?

When searching for Birth, Marriage or Death records between 1911 and 1983 you’ll need to do some additional searching on the index page. Your search will direct you to the first and last names on the page your ancestor will appear.

To locate the required page, just select the relevant name range between which your ancestor’s last name lies and scan down the page to find them.

Searching for UK Ancestors before 1911 or after 1983?

For Births, Marriages and Deaths recorded before 1911 or after 1983, your search will take you to the exact record on the page.

Getting Started:

Certain you need to search or simply prefer to search the indexes for this information rather than ask other family members? Then, no need to worry. We’ve made starting your search easy.

Simply select one of the following options to get your search underway.

Additional Top Tips

-From 1984 onwards UK Birth, Marriage & Death indexing switched from a quarterly to an annual basis so you only need to search by year on these

-Registration can take place up to 6 weeks after the event, you may need to search in the following quarter or year for relatives who may have been born, married or who died towards the end of a quarter

-From 1984 onwards, paper records were replaced by online records so you won’t find any images associated with Births, Marriages or Deaths registered after 1984.

-If you’re searching for ancestors who may have been adopted, you’ll need to visit the General Registrar’s Office (GRO) website for further detail.