The English register of births has been maintained by the General Register Office (GRO) since 1 July 1837. Every birth in England and Wales is registered locally and indexed centrally. For Tamil family history, this register captures every Tamil child born in England from that date to today.
What the register contains
- Registration district and sub-district
- Date and place of birth
- Full name
- Sex
- Father’s name, occupation, and residence
- Mother’s name and maiden surname
- Signature and residence of the informant
- Date of registration
Search routes
- GRO online index — gro.gov.uk (free indexes, £11 certified copies).
- FreeBMD — free volunteer-transcribed index (freebmd.org.uk).
- FamilySearch and Findmypast — additional indexes; some full-text with subscriptions.
Tamil registrations to look for
The English register of births captures Tamil children in the same six clusters as the 1921 census — lascar community, professional families, colonial-household staff, Indian Army officer families, mission-linked households, and student families.
