General Register Office indexes

What are GRO indexes?

Every birth, adoption, marriage, civil partnership or death registered in England or Wales has a General Register Office (GRO) index reference. It usually consists of the year, volume number, page number and district in which the event was registered.

If you need to order a copy of a birth, marriage or death certificate, the GRO may require an index reference.

Accessing GRO indexes at Westminster City Archives

City of Westminster Archives Centre provides access to the General Register Office's published indexes of births, marriages and deaths on microfiche. Some early indexes can be searched online via FreeBMD. Visitors to City of Westminster Archives Centre can also search all apart from the most recent indexes through our subscription to Ancestry and FindMyPast on the Westminster Libraries' Family History page.

UK indexes

UK Adoption Records

We hold the indexes to adopted children 1927-2011. For further information, the Government website has helpful pages on tracing birth relatives.

Overseas Indexes

These start earlier, as they contain many regimental and army chaplains' returns. Deaths include war deaths 1914-21 and 1939-48.

For opening hours and location details, please see our Visitor Information page.  Copies of the GRO indexes are also available in London at the British Library.

Please note that we do not have copies of the certificates. Once you have found the index reference for the certificate you require, you must order the certificate direct from the General Register Office. Alternatively, if you are looking for copies of Westminster, Paddington or St Marylebone birth, marriage or death certificates from 1837, use this link to visit the Westminster Register Office. Please note that in order to locate marriage certificates the Register Office also requires the name of the building in which the ceremony took place.

Divorce Records

We do not hold any records of divorces. Information on getting a divorce and locating divorce reocrds can be found on the Government website and National Archives websites.

Accessing GRO indexes at other record offices and public libraries

If you are not local to Westminster, you may find that there is an index set available at a nearby local history centre or record office. Please click here for a list of holders of the GRO indexes. Most public library services in the UK provide free access to the indexes via an online database subscription. Please contact your local library service for details.