What you need to apply
If you can give us enough information to identify the record in our indexes, you can buy a copy of the certificate. We don't need to see any identification.
For certificates of:
- birth - name on the certificate, date of birth, place of birth (address or hospital name) and one or both parents names.
- death - the deceased's name, date of death and place of death.
- marriage - name of both parties, date of marriage and specific place of marriage (i.e. venue, church name etc.).
- civil partnership - name of both parties, date of civil partnership and place of civil partnership. If you want the standard certificate (not just the extract) you must also provide the partner's full addresses.
Family history certificate applications
We will search by name, year, quarter and district of registration, or Lancashire BMD reference only. Unfortunately we cannot verify additional information such as parents' names, occupations, and street names before issuing a certificate.
We will issue a certificate and charge the fee without exception if:
- we find a certificate matching the details you give us, or
- for applications with a Lancashire BMD reference, the name matches the application
If you have limited information
If you are researching your family history, try visiting our family history pages. We hold an number of records and have links to useful online resources. If you need help with your research, Central Library provides a research service (fees starting from £17.50).
The General Register Office (GRO) also holds birth, adoption, marriage, civil partnership, death and still birth records for events registered in England and Wales from July 1837. Recent registrations may not be held by the GRO and will have to be obtained from the relevant district register office.
If you want to search our birth, death or marriage indexes yourself, you can use our general search facility charged at £18 for up to 6 hours. Contact us to make an appointment.