The General Register Office (GRO) is that part of the government of England and Wales that deals with the civil registration of births (including stillbirths), adoptions, marriages and civil partnerships, and deaths in both England and Wales. For the government of parliamentary systems see Executive (government. History The Roman occupation of Britain was the first period in which the area of present-day England and Wales was administered as a single unit (with the exception Civil registration is the system with which a Government records the vital events of its Citizens The primary purpose of civil registration is to create legal Childbirth (also called labour, birth, partus or parturition) is the culmination of a Human Pregnancy or A stillbirth occurs when a Fetus which has died in the Uterus or during labor or delivery exits a Woman 's body Adoption is the act of legally placing a child with a Parent or parents other than those to whom they were born NOTICE TO WOULD-BE ROMEOS ************** Death is the termination of the biological functions that define living Organisms It refers both to a specific England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland (There are equivalent but separate offices for the other parts of the United Kingdom, respectively Scotland and Northern Ireland. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. Northern Ireland (Tuaisceart Éireann Ulster Scots: Norlin Airlann) is a Country within the United Kingdom, lying in the northeast of )

The GRO was founded in 1836 under an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (6 & 7 Will. Year 1836 ( MDCCCXXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap An Act of Parliament is a Law enacted as Primary legislation by a national or sub-national Parliament. The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories 4 C A P. LXXXVI), and civil registration commenced in 1837. Year 1837 ( MDCCCXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common Its head is the Registrar General. The Registrar General is the Government official responsible for the registration of births deaths and marriages in England and Wales. Probably the most distinguished person associated with the GRO in the nineteenth century, although he was never its head, was William Farr. William Farr ( November 30, 1807 - April 14, 1883) was a nineteenth century British Epidemiologist, regarded as one of the

In 1972 the GRO became part of the newly created Office of Population Censuses and Surveys (OPCS), with the Registrar General in overall charge. Year 1972 ( MCMLXXII) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Office of Population Censuses and Surveys (OPCS was created in May 1970 through the merger of the General Register Office and the Government Social Survey Department Until then it had had several statistical functions, including the conduct of population censuses and the production of annual population estimates. All these were moved elsewhere within the new organisation. The GRO then became just one division within OPCS, headed by a Deputy Registrar General. Then in 1996 the OPCS, and therefore the GRO, became part of the newly created Office for National Statistics, and the office of Registrar General was merged with that of Head of the Government Statistical Service. Year 1996 ( MCMXCVI) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar) The Office for National Statistics (ONS is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly

The GRO supplies copies of birth, marriage, civil partnership certificates and death certificates, either online, via the Family Records Centre or from one of the local register offices that act on behalf of the GRO. A birth certificate is a Vital record that documents the birth of a child In some jurisdictions a marriage certificate is the official record that two people have undertaken a Marriage ceremony A death certificate, sometimes medical certificate of the cause of death (MCCD is a document issued by a government official such as a registrar of Vital statistics The Family Records Centre (FRC provided access to Family history research sources mainly for England and Wales. In England and Wales The Register Office is primarily the local office for the registration of births deaths and marriages (BD&M and for the conducting of civil marriages

Becoming part of IPS

On 1st April 2008, the General Register Office for England and Wales (GRO) became a subsidiary of the Identity and Passport Service (IPS). The Identity and Passport Service is an Executive Agency of the Home Office in the United Kingdom which became operational on 1 April 2006 after the passing The decision to make the transfer of GRO to IPS was finalised following the outcome of the Comprehensive Spending Review. As such IPS and the Home Office is the natural home for GRO. The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for security and order The move follows changes to make Office of National Statistics more independent of Government, which means ONS will no longer be responsible for the registration role it currently holds.

Registrars General

• Thomas Henry Lister, 1836-1842
• George Graham, 1842-1880
• Brydges P. Thomas Henry Lister (1800‑ 5 June, 1842) was an English Novelist and Registrar General. Henniker, 1880-1900
• Reginald McLeod, 1900-1902
• William Cospatrick Dunbar, 1902-1909
• Bernard Mallet, 1909-1920
• Sylvanus Percival Vivian, 1920-1945

Source: National Statistics

See also

• General Register Office for Northern Ireland
• General Register Office for Scotland

External links

• General Register Office for England and Wales
• General Register Office for Scotland
• General Register Office for Northern Ireland