Copy of birth certificate

[vjg13]

I would like to obtain a copy of a birth certificate from GRO but don't know the exact date of birth. I know the month and year but not the day. It won't seem to let me order it without putting in a full date of birth.

Are you sure you are trying to use the correct website? There are a lot of sites out there 'pretending' to be the official one, but charge you a lot more. With the official GRO website you put in the reference of the quarter and year, and the registration district. You add the full name and any other information you know.

Incidentally, the actual month of birth isn't always in the registration quarter, as the birth might have been registered several weeks after birth, and in a different month, so falls into the next quarter.

The references can be searched for on the FreeBMD website.

If it is a more recent certificate, you can order direct from the actual register office itself.

It is definitely the correct website, I have used before for a death and marriage certificate. Hadn't thought about using the actual office. Thanks, will also ring GRO this week and see if they can help.

The certificates I want are from the 1970's, would they still be held by the office they were registered at?

They don't keep old certificate copies, they have the actual original register there, and from that they will issue you with a new certified copy. If a register office has closed in the meantime, that district will have merged with another and they will have the registers there.

The GRO has copies of registers which are sent there by all the register offices. They will charge more for a detailed search than a local office. If you tell a local office the name and the month, they will be able to find it more easily, and are more likely to be helpful if you need a certificate for personal reasons rather than genealogy research (in my experience).

Thank you. It does look like I could order directly from that register office online without knowing the day of birth. I have tried today but the payment system crashes! Will try again this week. Thanks for your help Yamadori.

Ordered the certificates directly from the register office on Sunday and they came today! Have checked also with GRO and you enter 01/01 with the year you know and so you can also obtain it from them online.