A register office or The General Register Office, much more commonly but erroneously registry office (except in official use), is a British government office where

births Birth is the act or process of bearing or bringing forth offspring, also referred to in technical contexts as parturition. In mammals, the process is initiated by hormones which cause the muscular walls of the uterus to contract, expelling the ...

death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...

civil partnership A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, created primarily as a means to provide recognition in law for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage ...

stillbirths Stillbirth is typically defined as fetal death at or after 20 or 28 weeks of pregnancy, depending on the source. It results in a baby born without signs of life. A stillbirth can result in the feeling of guilt or grief in the mother. The term ...

and adoptions in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are registered.The General Register Office
/ref> It is the licensed local of

civil registry Civil registration is the system by which a government records the vital events ( births, marriages, and deaths) of its citizens and residents. The resulting repository or database has different names in different countries and even in differ ...

. In Scotland, The

General Register Office for Scotland The General Register Office for Scotland (GROS) ( gd, Oifis Choitcheann a' Chlàraidh na h-Alba) was a non-ministerial directorate of the Scottish Government that administered the registration of births, deaths, marriages, divorces and adopti ...

(GROS) was in service until 2011, when this department was transferred to

National Records of Scotland , type = Non-ministerial government department , logo = National Records of Scotland logo.svg , logo_width = , picture = , picture_width = , picture_caption = , formed = , preceding1 = National Archives of Scotland , preceding2 = General Regi ...

England and Wales

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...

, register offices record births, marriages, deaths, civil partnership, stillbirths and adoptions. Set up by

Act of Parliament Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the Legislature, legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of ...

in 1837, the statutory registration service is overseen by the

Registrar General General Register Office or General Registry Office (GRO) is the name given to the civil registry in the United Kingdom, many other Commonwealth nations and Ireland. The GRO is the government agency responsible for the recording of vital recor ...

as part of the

General Register Office General Register Office or General Registry Office (GRO) is the name given to the civil registry in the United Kingdom, many other Commonwealth nations and Ireland. The GRO is the government agency responsible for the recording of vital recor ...

, part of the Home Office

Identity and Passport Service His Majesty's Passport Office (HMPO) is an agency of the Home Office in the United Kingdom. It provides passports for British nationals worldwide and was formed on 1 April 2006 as the Identity and Passport Service before being renamed HM Passpo ...

but provided locally by local authorities. Similar rules regarding registration have applied in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

since 1855 and in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

since 1845 for non-Catholic marriages and 1864 for births, deaths and all marriages. A register office is the office of the superintendent registrar of the district, in whose custody are all the registers dating back to 1837. The superintendent registrar is also responsible for conducting the legal preliminaries to marriage and conducting civil partnership ceremonies. Registrations are carried out by a registrar and each registration district will have one or more registrars and each may be responsible for a particular sub-district. Since 1994, the range of services offered by register offices has expanded so that they may now provide additional celebratory services including statutory

citizenship Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection". Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...

and civil partnership ceremonies and non-statutory ceremonies such as naming and renewal of vows. All civil ceremonies may also take place in local approved premises, including hotels and public buildings. On 1 December 2007, all registrars and superintendent registrars in

became employees of the local authorities providing the registration service, having been statutory officers with no legal employment status. This came about as a result of the

Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 The Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 (c 18) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which established the UK Statistics Authority (UKSA). It came into force in April 2008. Sir Michael Scholar was appointed as the first Cha ...

following decades of campaigning by the trade unions that represented registration officers in England and Wales, the

Society of Registration Officers The Society of Registration Officers was a trade union representing officers of the vital registration service in England and Wales. Members provided the local birth, marriage and death registration service, the majority working in local Regist ...

and

UNISON In music, unison is two or more musical parts that sound either the same pitch or pitches separated by intervals of one or more octaves, usually at the same time. ''Rhythmic unison'' is another term for homorhythm. Definition Unison or per ...

Ireland

In Ireland, legislation came into force in 1845 which provided for the registration of civil marriages and for the regulation of all non-Catholic marriages. Roman Catholic marriages were reported to the relevant superintendent registrar.History
, General Register Office, Ireland, 20 Feb 2003. Accessed August 2011

Equivalents outside the UK

There is no direct equivalent in the USA, but the bureaus of vital statistics perform some similar tasks. In Italy the function is fulfilled by the Ufficio di Stato Civile and in Germany by the

Standesamt A Standesamt (German, plural "Standesämter") is a German civil registration office, which is responsible for recording births, marriages, and deaths. Soon after the German Empire was created in 1871 from the previous collection of German states ...

References

{{Reflist

External links

General Register Office at Direct.gov
(England and Wales)
Online Certificate Ordering
(England and Wales)
General Register Office for Scotland

General Register Office Northern Ireland

Register a Birth in United Kingdom

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Local government in the United Kingdom Civil Registration and Vital Statistic

England and Wales

Ireland

Equivalents outside the UK

See also

References

External links