English civil birth registration began on 1 July 1837. Every child born in England or Wales since that date has been registered locally and indexed at the General Register Office (GRO). For Tamil families, this is the primary record of a Tamil child born in Britain — a lascar’s son in Cardiff Butetown, a doctor’s daughter in London, an Indian Army officer’s child born on married-quarters posting.
What an English birth record contains
- Date and place of birth
- Full name of the child (or an entry marked "not named")
- Sex
- Name and surname of the father
- Name and maiden surname of the mother
- Rank or profession of the father
- Signature, description, and residence of the informant
- Date of registration
Where to search
- Free indexes — FreeBMD (freebmd.org.uk), FamilySearch, Findmypast, GRO online index.
- Certified copies — £11 from gro.gov.uk.
Tamil children born in England
Common patterns:
- Lascar community children — Cardiff Butetown, Poplar and Shadwell in London, South Shields.
- Colonial-family children whose Tamil mother (usually the ayah in a British household) gave birth in the master’s home — often recorded with the ayah’s Anglicised name.
- Medical-student and barrister families’ children born during the parents’ UK study period.
- Indian Army officer families’ children born in military hospitals in Aldershot, Colchester, Catterick.
