The British Overseas

Civil registration of births, marriages and deaths

The overseas section of the General Register Office receives information concerning British Nationals from various registration bodies around the world. In most cases registration is not compulsory and as it has always been an expensive process don't be surprised if your ancestors did not use official channels if the local registration service was perfectly satisfactory and legally recognised by the United Kingdom.

Returns were made from countries where a British Consul is in operation and certain embassies were permitted to perform and register marriages. British nationals who were born or died in commonwealth countries might be registered with the British High Commission, but only after that country became independent of Britain.

Abroad with the forces

The army also took soldiers around the world and army records were also returned to the Registrar General. You can find these extra indexes to births, deaths and marriages on a number of commercial sites, such as www.findmypast.com and www.familyrelatives.com. The indexes have also been published on microfiche, and you will be able to view them at the National Archives and at other libraries and record offices that have purchased GRO fiche. The indexes cover the following:

• Births, marriages & deaths:
• Army returns 1796-1965
• Consular returns 1849-1965
• UK High Commission Returns prior to 1981
• Births & Marriages abroad 1966 onwards
• Article 7 marriages deposits

• Regimental returns:
• Births and baptisms from regimental registers 1761-1924
• Ionian Islands (civil & regimental) 1818-64

• War deaths:
• Boer War: Natal and South African Field Forces
• World War One (1914-21): Army other ranks; Army officers; Navy (all ranks)
• World War Two (1939-48): Army other ranks; Army officers; Naval ratings; Naval officers; RAF; Indian services

• Marine and Air records:
• Marine Births and Deaths 1837-1965
• Air Births and Deaths 1947-65

The indexes can be tricky to use, and a little patience is required. Certificates can be obtained via DirectGov (www.direct.gov.uk/en/Governmentcitizensandrights/Registeringlifeevents).

Examples from 'overseas' certificates

Most certificates look like the standard English and Welsh certificates, and feature similar information. However, the marine birth certificates are actually records from the captain's log that were sent to the Registry of Ships and Shipping and passed on the Registrar General. Hence, the certificate gives the latitude and longitude position of the ship as the place where the birth or death occurred.

The marine birth certificate of a William Guy Browne is actually a typed copy of the 'minute which has been made in the log book of the Barque Jane Morice respecting the birth of my son William Guy Browne' recorded when the ship returned Liverpool in February1854. The birth took place in the previous November. The Captain Joseph Brown was obviously accompanied by his wife who was delivered of a male child at latitude 15 degrees 40 minutes north and longitude 29 degrees 19 minutes west'. I am told this is somewhere in the Atlantic. The couple's residence is given as 8 Chester Street, Foxteth Park (sic), Liverpool. Obviously there is an error in transcribing the address!

The marine death certificate of William Gibson, Master of the Sapphire, shows he died of exhaustion and bodily weakness caused by delirium tremens at 49 degrees north 21 degrees west on 29th December 1895. His nationality is recorded as 'Newcastle' but his last place of abode was Cardiff.

The consular birth certificate of Roger Mostyn Watkins shows his birth was registered within the district of the British Consul of St Vincent Cape Verde in 1918. His father was a telegraphist. The usual information about the parents is recorded.

Local registration services

Former British colonies followed the mother country and established similar systems of recording births, marriages and deaths to our own - usually from the mid-nineteenth century. In larger countries like Australia or Canada the system was generally governed by the State or province and there is seldom a nation wide system of indexes as we have in England and Wales. Where there was a fully working legal system of civil registration there was no need for British subjects to use High Commissions or Consuls and it is necessary therefore to check the records in the country of migration itself.

The International Vital Records Handbook by Thomas Jay Kemp published by the Genealogical Publishing Company lists information on civil registration services throughout the world. It lists when they start and where to write for information. It gives the costs of certificates and shows if any of the records might have been filmed by the LDS (Mormon church). A copy of this work can be found in the Society of Genealogists Library. Often the indexes to birth, marriages and deaths have been published, either on fiche, CD ROM or online. The Society of Genealogists has purchased these indexes where it can. For example, it has useful indexes for the Australian States and New Zealand. Certain Canadian Provinces and Australian States have their indexes on the web. You can locate these through www.cyndislist.com.

If you have ancestors who you know to be registered abroad do try to find their certificates as they are often more informative than English records.

For example, the death certificate of John Swinfield, whose death was registered in Waterloo, New South Wales in 1874 shows the name and occupation of his father and his mother's name. The deceased was married three times and the names of each bride and where and when they married is noted. The twelve children of all these marriages are listed (though the informant had scant information about some of the older children!) More importantly - the birthplace is recorded.

Sadly the civil registration of births marriages and deaths can start quite late and often at the end of the 19th century - but where records can be found they are invaluable in the extra information that they record.

Find out more

About the author

Else Churchill has been the Genealogy Officer of the Society of Genealogist since 1998. Formerly the Librarian of the Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies, Else has worked for the SOG since 1994. Her main interests lie in the 17th century and sources for people who lived through the English Civil Wars but she also specialises in using the records of the Victorian censuses.