Get digital english and welsh gro records for £2.50

Many family historians researching their English and Welsh kin have looked at the cheaper and quicker options for ordering Scottish civil registration records with envy in the past. However, the General Register Office (GRO) has just launched a new service that lets you order a digital version of a birth or death record at a hugely reduced price. The records available are those that were digitised some years ago for a project that was later abandoned due to spiralling costs. Unfortunately, no marriage records were scanned, but researchers can now order digital copies of birth records from 1837–1922, in addition to records of death from 1837–1887.

Digital images should be available immediately after purchase with an option to ‘View Image Online’ when your order is completed. However, due to high demand there have been some short delays. You can always check in ‘My Orders’ to find the link.

The digital records are not as attractive as the traditional certificates, but a good deal cheaper!

TOP TIP!

If you can’t find the record you want, try FreeBMD (freebmd.org.uk) as it gives you more flexible search parameters, especially if you’re not sure of the year.

1 Visit The GRO’s Website Go to www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/ and click ‘Order certificates online’. From there you will be taken to a page that asks you to either register or log in. If you haven’t ordered a birth, marriage or death certificate in the past, then you will need to set up an account on the website.

2 Order A Digital Image If you have ordered certificates or PDF images from the website before, you will notice that this next page has changed. Select ‘Order a Digital Image’ to take advantage of this new cheaper option. You do not need to choose ‘Search the GRO Indexes’ first, because the digital option takes you to the indexes.

3 Choose Birth Or Death The next page is the same as the GRO index page. Select either ‘Birth’ or ‘Death’ and a year from the dropdown list, ±2 years. If you choose a year outside of the new digital-service options (1837–1922 for births and 1837–1887 for deaths) then you will only be offered ‘Certificate’ or ‘PDF’ at checkout.

4 Fill In The Details Add the information you know – as a bare minimum, the person’s surname and sex – then click ‘Search’. If you don’t get the results you were expecting, try adding more or less information. Mother’s maiden name (for births) and age (for deaths) are useful ext