Changes

Registration of births, marriage and deaths in England started in 1837. Copies of certificates can be obtained from the GRO. It was not compulsory to register a birth, marriage or death with the British authorities whilst you were abroad, but if the event was registered with the authorities then a certificate can be obtained from here.

The records of the General Register Office (GRO) are part of the [[The National Archives|National Archives]]. Some of the records have a National Archives catalogue reference, series RG, but some of the records in respect of military overseas births, marriages and deaths do not. National Archives or GRO documentation about the latter group of records is very brief.

==Overseas Records Series RG ==

*RG 32 General Register Office: Miscellaneous Foreign Returns 1831-1969 [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/displaycataloguedetails.asp?CATID=12201&CATLN=3&Highlight=&FullDetails=True Details of the contents] [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/browser.asp?CATLN=3&CATID=12201&GPE=False&MARKER=0 Browse the subsections]

*Brief guide [http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Governmentcitizensandrights/Registeringlifeevents/Familyhistoryandresearch/DG_175464 Using the General Register Office to research family history] from Direct.gov.uk, which shows the limited details now available since the main GRO website was closed.

*[http://www.gro.gov.uk/Images/overseasrecords_guide_tcm69-39338.pdf GRO Guide to Overseas Records]. This link is not currently accessible, but may become available as an archived webpage.