Family tree - sources

Records of births, marriages and deaths
Until 1837, records of births, marriages and deaths were the responsibility of individual parishes. The records for England & Wales were centralised from 1837 onwards. Non-registration of births was not penalised before 1875.

Birth certificates include:

• Date, place of birth
• Name
• Sex
• Name of father
• Name, maiden name, of mother
• Occupation of father

Marriage certificates include:

• Date, place
• Names, ages, marital status, occupations, places of residence
• Fathers' names and occupations

Death certificates include:

• Date, place
• Name, sex, age, occupation, cause of death

The records are indexed at 1837online.com (commercial service). Copies of birth, marriage and death certificates from 1837 onwards can be ordered from the General Register Office.

Censuses
The censuses, taken every 10 years in Britain, record for each person in each household, the following: name, age, sex, place of birth, marital status, relation to head of family and occupation.

1801-1831	Head counts, no personal information recorded, and most returns were destroyed.
1841-1901	Full census. Available on microfiche at public record offices.
1881	Searchable online (free, courtesy of Church of Latter Day Saints (Mormons))
1901	Searchable online (index free, transcripts 50p).
1911-	Secret (100-year rule). The 1931 census was destroyed. There was no census in 1941.

The dates of the 1841-1901 censuses were: 7 Jun 1841, 30 Mar 1851, 7 Apr 1861, 2 Apr 1871, 3 Apr 1881, 5 Apr 1891, 31 Mar 1901. There are separate censuses for England and Wales.

The 1841 census omits some of the information recorded 1851-1901:

• House number (in street address) not given
• No indication of relationship with head of household
• Ages above 15 are rounded down to the nearest multiple of 5 years
• Place of birth not given explicitly - just an indication of whether or not the person was born in the county in which they reside

Other useful links:

• GENUKI UK genealogical information pages
• Registration districts, England and Wales, 1837 - 1930
• One-name family-tree studies