Where do I get a copy certificate?
You can easily 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.
Warning: A number of private services have been set up online, which often appear to be official. They may pay to appear at the top of internet search results and listings on websites to grab your attention. But these websites can charge you extra "administration fees" and some of them ask you to call premium rate telephone lines for their advice and services. In most cases you will have paid more for exactly the same service. Beware of companies overcharging for replacement Birth, Marriage or Death certificates.
The cheapest way to obtain replacement Birth, Marriage or Death certificates is direct from the Register Office holding the records. Replacement certificates are also available from the General Register Office.
******PLEASE NOTE THAT IF THE CERTIFICATE YOU ARE SEEKING TO OBTAIN DOES NOT RELATE TO AN EVENT WHICH OCCURRED WITHIN THE CITY OF LEICESTER, YOU WILL NEED TO CONTACT US, BEFORE YOU APPLY, TO ENQUIRE IF THE RECORD IS HELD AT THIS OFFICE.******
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 being 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.
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 completed for an online application and payment, printed out for your use or taken as a guide to the information required to enable us to supply a copy certificate.
There is an administration charge of £1.00 per certificate for applications made online.
This is non-refundable.
The administration charge is in addition to the fee for a certificate.
Certificates issued are sent out via 2nd Class Royal Mail.
******PLEASE NOTE THAT IF THE CERTIFICATE YOU ARE SEEKING TO OBTAIN DOES NOT RELATE TO AN EVENT WHICH OCCURRED WITHIN THE CITY OF LEICESTER, YOU WILL NEED TO CONTACT US, BEFORE YOU APPLY, TO ENQUIRE IF THE RECORD IS HELD AT THIS OFFICE.******
Click on the links below:
Birth Certificate
Marriage Certificate
Civil Partnership Certificate
Death Certificate
Please note that it will take up to 4 working days before we are able to deal with your application.
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 Leicester Register Office in person or by post, all *cheques / postal orders should be made payable to “Leicester City Council”. The current fee for a copy certificate from the deposited registers is £10.00. A short birth certificate is available for a fee of £10.00: 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. Please ensure that you include your correct and full postal address with 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
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 main national index is held at the:
The Family Records Centre
(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 £9.00.
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
For further information about researching your family history, click here:
www.leicester.gov.uk/familyhistory
