Users' Guide to the Death Indexes
- What areas are covered by the indexes?
- What information is contained in the indexes?
- How do I order a death certificate?
- Can I see the original records?
- Why are the reference numbers different from the national death indexes?
- Why can't I find a death in the indexes?
- What should I do if I find a mistake in the indexes?
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1. What areas are covered by the indexes?
Our aim is to eventually cover all deaths which took place in Yorkshire between 1837 and 1950, and beyond.
These records are now held at many separate register offices:
The Registration Districts in Yorkshire have changed considerably since 1837, and very few records are now held at the offices where they were initially registered.
For the purposes of registering deaths, Yorkshire was divided into dozens of Registrar's Sub-Districts. A full list of the Sub-Districts included in the database so far can be found on the Coverage of the Death Indexes page, which also shows the years for which the records have been indexed, and the places included within each Sub-District.
Because there are separate sets of records for each Sub-District, the dates covered will vary. But more information will be added to the database as soon as it becomes available, and the latest additions will be noted on the Updates page.
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2. What information is contained in the indexes?
From the indexes, you can find out:
(a) The Name of the deceased, as shown in the registers. Bodies which have been found but not identified will be listed as simply 'Unknown male' or 'Unknown female'.
(b) The Year in which the death was registered. Remember that the year relates to when the death was registered, which may be weeks or even months after the death took place, particularly if there were suspicious circumstances.
(c) The Sub-District where the death was registered, which should be the same as where the death took place. There is a list showing the places within each sub-district.
(d) The Register Office in Yorkshire which now holds the records. There have been a large number of boundary changes between districts since the start of registration in 1837, and as a result many records have been moved around.
(e) The Reference Number for the death entry, which can be used to order the death certificate. Please note that this is only applicable at the register office which holds the records, and is of no use anywhere else.
Please bear in mind that until recently the main purpose of these indexes was to supply certified copies of entries in registers. They were therefore written to help the registrar find an entry on information supplied by the applicant for the certificate. Consequently, they do not always provide information in an ideal form for family historians.
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3. How do I order a death certificate?
If you find an entry you are interested in, it is possible to order a death certificate, which is a copy of the full entry from the original register. This normally contains the following information:
- Date and place of death
- Name of the deceased
- Sex and Age
- Occupation
- Cause of death
- The name and address of the person registering the death
- Date of registration
Applications for certified copies of the death entries should be made to:
| Office | Address | Payments to: | Credit Cards |
|---|---|---|---|
| East Riding |
East Riding Registration and Celebratory Services Walkergate House Walkergate Beverley East Riding of Yorkshire HU17 9BP UK General:01482 393600 |
No | |
| Bridlington |
Bridlington Register Office Town Hall, Quay Road Bridlington East Riding of Yorkshire Y016 4LP UK General:01262 422662 |
Yes | |
| Hull |
Hull Register Office The Wilson Centre, Hull City Council, Alfred Gelder Street, HU1 2AG UK General:01482 300 300 |
Hull City Council | Yes |
| Harrogate |
The Register Office, Bilton House, 31 Park Parade, Harrogate, North Yorkshire, HG1 5AG UK General:0300 131 2 131 |
Yes | |
| Pocklington |
Pocklington Register Office, Burnby Hall, Pocklington, York, YO4 2QQ UK General:01759 303614 |
Yes | |
| York |
York Register Office, 56 Bootham, York, YO30 7DA UK General & Phone Orders : 01904 654477 |
York City Council | Yes |
| Darlington |
Darlington Register Office, Town Hall Feethams Darlington DL1 5QT General: 01325 406400 |
Darlington Borough Council | Yes |
| Redcar |
Redcar and Cleveland Register Office Westgate Guisborough Redcar and Cleveland TS14 6AP UK General:01287 632564 |
Yes | |
| Durham |
Durham Register Office Cockton House 35 Cockton Hill Road, Bishop Auckland, Co. Durham, DL14 6HS UK General:01388 607277 |
Yes | |
| Barnsley |
Barnsley Register Office Town Hall Church Street Barnsley, South Yorkshire S70 2TA UK General:01226 773085 |
Yes | |
| Wakefield |
Wakefield Register Office Wakefield Town Hall Wood Street Wakefield West Yorkshire WF1 2HQ UK General:01924 302185 |
Wakefield Council | Yes |
| Bradford |
Bradford and Keighley Register Office, City Hall, Centenary Square Bradford, West Yorkshire, BD1 1HY UK General:01274 752151 |
Bradford Council | Yes |
| Leeds |
Leeds Register Office, 1st Floor West, Merrion House, Merrion Way, Leeds, LS2 8BB UK General:0113 222 4408 |
Superintendent Registrar | Yes |
| Dewsbury |
Dewsbury Register Office, Dewsbury Town Hall, Wakefield Old Road, Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, WF12 8DG UK General:01924 324733 |
No | |
| Huddersfield |
Huddersfield Registration Office, Huddersfield Town Hall, Ramsden Street, Huddersfield, HD1 2TA UK General:01484 221030 |
No | |
| Pontefract |
Pontefract Register Office, Town Hall, Pontefract, West Yorkshire, WF8 1PG UK General:01977 722670 |
Yes | |
| Ribble Valley |
Ribble Valley Register Office, Off Pimlico Road, Clitheroe, Lancashire, BB7 2BW UK General:01200 425786 |
Yes | |
| Doncaster |
Doncaster Register Office, Civic Office, Waterdale, Doncaster, South Yorkshire, DN1 3BU UK General:01302 735222 |
DMBC | Yes |
| Retford |
East Retford Register office, Nottinghamshire County Council Offices, Chancery Lane, Retford Nottingham, DN22 6DG UK General:01777 708631 |
Yes | |
| Sheffield |
Sheffield Register Office, Town Hall, Pinstone Street, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S1 2HH UK General:0114 203 9423 |
No | |
| Goole |
Goole Register Office, Council Offices, Church Street,Goole, East Riding of Yorkshire, DN14 5BG UK General:01405 722379 |
No | |
| North Lincolnshire |
North Lincolnshire Register Office 92 Oswald Road, Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, DN15 7PA UK General:01724 843915 |
Yes | |
| Halifax |
Calderdale Register Office Spring Hall Huddersfield Road Halifax HX3 0AQ UK General:01422 288080 |
Yes | |
| Keighley |
Keighley Register Office Town Hall, Bow Street, Keighley,West Yorkshire, BD21 3PA UK General:01535 618061 |
Yes | |
| Rotherham |
Rotherham Register Office Bailey House, Rawmarsh Road, Rotherham,South Yorkshire, S60 1TX UK General:01709 382121 X 3541/2 |
Yes | |
| Oldham |
Oldham Register Office Superintendent Registrar Chadderton Town Hall Middleton Road Chadderton Oldham OL9 6PP UK General:0161 678 0137 |
No | |
| Kendal |
Kendal Register Office County Offices, Kendal, Cumbria, LA9 4RQ UK General:01539 773567 |
Yes | |
| Burnley |
Burnley & Pendle Register Off. 12 Nicholas Street, Burnley, Lancashire, BB11 2AQ UK General:01282 436116 |
Yes | |
| Worksop |
Worksop Register Office Queens Buildings, Potter Street, Worksop,Nottingham, S80 2AH UK General:01909 535534 |
Yes | |
| Chesterfield |
Chesterfield Register Office New Beetwell Street, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, S40 1QJ UK General:01246 234754 |
Yes |
Family historians are requested to apply for certificates by post and not call casually at the Register Office. Whilst staff will always try to help, they do have other statutory duties to carry out every day and are often very busy with current births, deaths and marriages. Postal applications are normally dealt with promptly as they are received.
An application should include:
- the name of the deceased
- their approximate age (if known)
- the date of death or registration (to within five years is sufficient)
- the reference number supplied in the index
Do not forget to include all the information asked for in the application - the better the information supplied, the greater the chance of being supplied with the certificates required. And a stamped addressed envelope will help get the certificate back to you more quickly. Applications sent from outside the UK should enclose two International Reply Coupons with their self-addressed envelope instead of stamps.
The fee for each certificate is £12.50 and should be sent with the application. Do Not Send Cash.
Applicants wishing to pay by credit card should include in their applications the relevant
details, i.e. type of card, name of cardholder, card number and date of expiry.
Please note that at present only Cheshire Central, Cheshire East and Cheshire West Districts can accept credit card payments
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4. Can I see the original records?
Original records of births, marriages and deaths held at register offices in England and Wales are not open to the public, and information can only be released in the form of certificates issued by the registrars.
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5. Why are the reference numbers different from the national death indexes?
The national indexes of deaths in England and Wales at Myddleton Place (formerly at St. Catherine's House or Somerset House) list all persons whose death was registered in each quarter year from 1837. They show the name of the deceased, their age (from 1866 only), the name of the registration district (as it existed when the death was registered), and a volume and page number, which is unique to the General Register Office and of no use to local registrars.
Every three months since July 1837, registrars have been required to send copies of their death register entries to the General Register Office. For various reasons, sometimes entries were missed, or details were copied incorrectly from the register; this can usually explain differences between certificates ordered by the GRO and those obtained from local register offices. Generally speaking, registers and indexes held by the local offices are less prone to error, and should therefore be more accurate than those at the GRO.
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6. Why can't I find a death in the indexes?
A quick glance through the indexes reveals some unusual spellings of common names, and this often explains why a death can be hard to find. In the early days of registration, and because of the high level of illiteracy, the person registering the death gave their details to the registrar, who would spell them as he heard them. If the person could not read or write, he would not know whether the names were being spelled consistently. Sometimes the informant was a neighbour or friend, who may not have been sure of the deceased's full name or exact age.
To help overcome this problem the search pages have the ability to try to list names that sound similar but are spelled differently. Hint and tips about getting the best from the search of the indexes on this web site are available here.
As noted above, some people remain unidentified when their deaths are registered, and so they appear simply as 'Unknown Male' or 'Unknown Female', although it was sometimes possible to re-register the entry if their identity was subsequently discovered.
If you are satisfied that a name does not appear in the indexes, then your ancestor may have died outside the area. It was not unusual for people to die while working away from home, or visiting relations in other parts of the country. The GRO indexes may be helpful in locating where the death took place, but please remember that a lot of records have moved around due to boundary changes between districts.
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7. What should I do if I find a mistake in the indexes?
Although every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of these indexes, it is possible that an occasional mistake or omission can occur. If you think you have found an error then please send an e-mail to: Yorkshire BMD Webmaster, giving as many details as possible.
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