Genealogy Chat

A useful list

1837 1 July Civil registration began in England and Wales 1866 Death indexes recorded age at death 1907 Deceased Wife's Sister Marriage Act permitted a man to marry his deceased wife's sister 1911 September Birth indexes contained mother's maiden name 1912 Marriage indexes showed name of the second party 1921 Deceased Brother's Widow Marriage Act permitted a woman to marry her deceased husband's brother 1926 Adoption of Children Act provided for adoption of children, with the creation of the Adopted Children's Register 1926 Legitimacy Act allowed for illegitimate children to be re-registered on the subsequent marriage of the parents 1927 Registration of stillbirths made compulsory (but the register was not put on open access) 1929 It became illegal for anyone under 16 to marry. Previously girls could marry at 12 and boys at 14, although they needed their parents' consent until they were 21 1947 Short birth certificate introduced (This does not contain parents' names) 1949 Register of Births and Deaths in Aircraft listed any births or deaths that took place in aircraft registered in Great Britan or Northern Ireland, wherever they occurred in the world 1959 Legitimacy Act allowed the children born when one of their parents was married to somebody else to be legitimized when their parents married. The child could be re-registered if it had been previously entered under the woman's husband's name 1969 Death indexes showed date of birth 1969 Age of majority reduced from 21 to 18. Parental consent to marriage now needed for people under 18 1975 Children Act 1975 allowed adopted children to obtain the original information on their birth certificate 1986 People permitted to marry a stepchild or stepgrandchild, but both parties had to be over 18 and the child must not have been treated as a child of the person's family

Thanks Susanne, that's really helpful - I'm going to print it out and keep. Many thanks, Mandy :)

This is a very useful tip - Perhaps you could also add it to Sarah MacLean's "ESSENTIAL READING" thread on the message boards

is there a list of what is included on certificates and from what date?

A very useful site for certificate information is: http://home.clara.net/dixons/Certificates/indexbd.htm Sue:-)

Excelent Susanne thank you very much. Mary

Hi Susanne Thats great, it does help to have a record of facts, how about adding when it became law for the parents to record the births which was 1875, before that many were missed. Thanks for that Irene

nudge