Help from registration services
Registration Services can provide assistance locating specific certificates and performing searches of records in a number of areas. For other information about Staffordshire in particular, your library can be an invaluable source since they often have copies of local publications and also hold census records on microfiche or microfilm.
We have custody of registers which have recorded births, deaths and marriages in Staffordshire since July 1837 when registration was introduced.
There are seven registration districts in Staffordshire. Each district holds its own registers recording events which took place in that district.
We also hold registers for both civil marriages and non-conformist chapels, Church of England meeting houses, Jewish marriages and other religious buildings where marriages have taken place.
The Stoke-on-Trent district is administered by Stoke on Trent City Council and is therefore not part of the Staffordshire Registration Service. If you require certificates relating to the Stoke-on-Trent district then you need to make an application to Stoke-on-Trent City Council.
Births, marriages and deaths
Birth, marriage and death indexes held by us relate only to events that occurred within the Staffordshire registration district. Searching for a birth that took place since 1837 can be done in any of the following ways:
Applications can be made in person to undertake a general search of the indexes. There is a fee payable for this service and you must make a booking in advance. The person making a request for a search can look at the birth indexes but not the registers themselves. A certificate of any entry identified may be obtained upon completion of the application form and payment of the appropriate fee.
Please follow the link for details of our fees and charges.
You can obtain a specific certificate. If you are unsure as to the date of the certificate that you require, we can perform a search on your behalf. The search can encompass one year either side of a date provided by you.
Indexes are held at the individual registration offices.
Further information
Staffordshire Archive Services can also be of assistance in relation to family history and genealogical matters. Archive Services hold baptism, marriage and burial records as well as census returns and the International Genealogical Index.
There are additionally a number of other websites that provide information about this topic. These include: