How & where do I get a copy certificate?
Where do I get a copy certificate?
You can obtain a copy certificate of a birth, death or marriage that took place in England or Wales from the register office “local” to where the event occurred,
At the City of Leicester Register Office we hold deposited registers for births, deaths and marriages that have taken place in the City since 1st July 1837 when civil registration commenced.
Over the years there have been numerous boundary changes resulting in the records for some locations been held at this office if the event occurred during one period of time but at the Leicestershire Register Office if it occurred during another period. To assist you, a list of such locations and the period(s) for which we hold the registers of births and deaths is detailed below. Records for locations that have always been in the City of Leicester are held at the City of Leicester Register Office irrespective of the date of the birth or death.
Click Here for the list of Locations.
The situation regarding marriage records is a more complex issue.
The registers for all marriages in the City of Leicester prior to 1899 are held at the City of Leicester Register Office. Marriages occurring since 1899 are subject to the effect of boundary changes determining whether the register is now deposited at this office or at the Leicestershire Register Office. At the City of Leicester Register Office we are currently indexing all our marriage entries on to computer to improve the speed of our response to requests for copy marriage certificates. At present over 100,000 index entries have been recorded.
For further advice regarding whether or not a particular entry of birth, death or marriage is held at the City of Leicester Register Office please contact us.
If the event took place in England or Wales but outside of the City of Leicester then we should be able to supply contact details for the office that holds records for the particular location.
How do I apply for a copy certificate?
The applications forms set out below can be printed out for your use or taken as a guide to the information required to enable us to supply a copy certificate.
If you are unable to supply precise information then it may take longer for us to locate the entry to which you are referring. In some cases we may not be able to determine the actual entry. If you are uncertain of the date of an event we will search for a three-year period (e.g. 1884 - 1886). Please note that quoting a GRO reference does not indicate where the entry can be found in our registers. Unfortunately there is no cross-referencing system between GRO indexes and local register office indexes.
When applying to the City of Leicester Register Office all cheques / postal orders should be made payable to “Leicester City Council”. The current fee for a copy certificate from the deposited registers is £7.00. A short birth certificate is available for a fee of £5.50: this shows full name, sex, date of birth and registration district of birth only. Please note that this short certificate has increasingly limited use. A stamped addressed envelope should accompany your application.
You can obtain a copy certificate of a birth, death or marriage that took place in England or Wales from the register office “local” to where the event occurred,
At the City of Leicester Register Office we hold deposited registers for births, deaths and marriages that have taken place in the City since 1st July 1837 when civil registration commenced.
Over the years there have been numerous boundary changes resulting in the records for some locations been held at this office if the event occurred during one period of time but at the Leicestershire Register Office if it occurred during another period. To assist you, a list of such locations and the period(s) for which we hold the registers of births and deaths is detailed below. Records for locations that have always been in the City of Leicester are held at the City of Leicester Register Office irrespective of the date of the birth or death.
Click Here for the list of Locations.
The situation regarding marriage records is a more complex issue.
The registers for all marriages in the City of Leicester prior to 1899 are held at the City of Leicester Register Office. Marriages occurring since 1899 are subject to the effect of boundary changes determining whether the register is now deposited at this office or at the Leicestershire Register Office. At the City of Leicester Register Office we are currently indexing all our marriage entries on to computer to improve the speed of our response to requests for copy marriage certificates. At present over 100,000 index entries have been recorded.
For further advice regarding whether or not a particular entry of birth, death or marriage is held at the City of Leicester Register Office please contact us.
If the event took place in England or Wales but outside of the City of Leicester then we should be able to supply contact details for the office that holds records for the particular location.
How do I apply for a copy certificate?
The applications forms set out below can be printed out for your use or taken as a guide to the information required to enable us to supply a copy certificate.
If you are unable to supply precise information then it may take longer for us to locate the entry to which you are referring. In some cases we may not be able to determine the actual entry. If you are uncertain of the date of an event we will search for a three-year period (e.g. 1884 - 1886). Please note that quoting a GRO reference does not indicate where the entry can be found in our registers. Unfortunately there is no cross-referencing system between GRO indexes and local register office indexes.
When applying to the City of Leicester Register Office all cheques / postal orders should be made payable to “Leicester City Council”. The current fee for a copy certificate from the deposited registers is £7.00. A short birth certificate is available for a fee of £5.50: this shows full name, sex, date of birth and registration district of birth only. Please note that this short certificate has increasingly limited use. A stamped addressed envelope should accompany your application.
To request further information about this service, please use our online enquiry form
Does it matter if the person has been adopted?
If the birth certificate is for someone who has been adopted and it is the certificate showing the adopted name that is required then application must be made to:
- Adopted Children’s Register
- ONS
- Smedley Hydro
- Trafalgar Road
- Birkdale
- Southport
- Merseyside
- PR8 2HH.
If the birth certificate is for someone who has been adopted and it is the certificate showing the original name then application should be made to the local office stating the original name. The application should also state that you are aware that the person has been adopted.
Can I search through the registers myself?
The law prevents you search through the actual registers. There are 2 options available to you should you wish to try to locate an entry yourself:
- you may search through the national indexes for the whole of England & Wales
- you may search through the indexes at the Register Office which covers the location in which the event took place.
- The Family Records Centre
- Myddleton Street
- London
- EC16 1UW
- Tel: 020 7233 9233
(Copies of this index are also held at a number of locations.)
If you wish to search through the indexes at the local register office then you should contact the office for advice on their procedure. The cost of this kind of search is £18 for a period of up to 6 hours per individual. In order to make the best use of your time, we would recommend that you contact this office at least 7 days ahead of the day that you would like to conduct your search through the indexes held here. When you have found the entry you looking for, we will be able to confirm the details by supplying a copy certificate for a fee of £7.00.
What happens if the birth, death or marriage took place before 1st July 1837?
Prior to July 1837 births and deaths were not registered but you may find that the local archivist holds Church Baptismal Registers and Burial Records together with Church Marriage Records.
For further information please contact:
- Leicestershire Records Office
- Long Street
- Wigston Magna
- Leicestershire
- LE8 2AH