For a few years, I’ve put off purchasing several English and Welsh birth, marriage and death certificates simply because I became distracted by another branch of the family or couldn’t be bothered spending the money. When the General Register Office launched its pilot program, offering relatively low-cost PDFs, I took advantage and ordered a few records.
Now, I probably should organize my research notes and order a few more PDFs and certificates because the price is going up February 16 — and I’m a typical genealogist who likes a good deal.
Peter Claver writes in his latest Lost Cousins newsletter, “If you have ancestors from England or Wales now’s the time to place the orders for certificates (or PDF copies of register entries) that you’ve been putting off – because on 16th February 2019 the cost will be going significantly, from £9.25 to £11 (about CDN$16 to $19) for a certificate (an 18.9% increase), and from £6 to £7 (about CDN$10 to $12) for a PDF copy of a register entry (16.7% more).”
The certificates can be ordered online from the General Register Office (GRO). While I love the feel of the paper of the more expensive certificate, the less expensive PDF provides the same information.
PDF copies of digitized civil birth and death registration records, not marriages, held by the GRO for birth entries 1837-1917 and death entries 1837-1957 can be ordered, along with more recent records. A GRO index reference is required in the application. Questions and answers about the PDF order process are available.
To get the fastest response, you should provide the GRO index reference information, such as year, quarter, district name, volume number, and page number. However, for my research, I find it much easier to search FreeBMD for the reference information.
The GRO’s FAQ section provides helpful answers to common questions.
I’ll be doing the same thing as you, Gail…checking my research and ordering certificates before the price changes. The PDF pilot has been wonderful, I hope the GRO has no plans to stop it.