The General Registrar Office is responsible for the registration of births, marriages and deaths and the purchase of certificates. 

Certificates may be ordered online , and are cheaper if you know the index reference. Index references may be looked up on findmypast, familyrelatives.com or Ancestry (there is a charge so buying direct from the GRO will be cheaper), or there is a good index on FreeBMD (also available on Ancestry).

Because of the problems of producing the early indexes - which meant copying information by hand several times before the entry was written into the index book, there are quite a lot of errors. (See A Comedy of Errors.) If there has been an error the local Registrar Office may be able to help out with the "original" version.

Applications for Hertfordshire birth, marriage and death certificates can be made at Central Registration Certificate Archive is to be established at The Old Courthouse, St Albans Road East, Hatfield, Hertfordshire AL10 0ES. For details of ordering online see How can I get a copy certificate.

Page updated July 2012