Family history
The Registration Service has custody of registers that record
births, deaths and marriages occurring in Rochdale since July 1837
when civil registration was introduced in this country.
A certified copy of records of births, deaths or marriages
occurring within Rochdale for which we hold the record, can be
obtained from the Register Office, using the contact details in the
column to the right.
For an event which happened elsewhere, contact the Register
Office for the district where the event occurred.
When applying for a certificate the following information will
be required for us to find the correct entry:
Births
- Date and place of birth
- Full name of child
- Mother’s full name and maiden name, father’s full name
Deaths
- Date and place of death
- Full name of the deceased and your relationship
- Occupation
- Marital status
Marriages
- Date and place of marriage
- Full names of both bride and groom at the time of the
marriage
- The ages of the bride and bridegroom
For more information contact the Register Office.
Family Research
How do I trace my family tree?
The best way to start is to find out what information is
available to you from your own family. Most families will have kept
copies of old birth, death and marriage certificates. There are
other documents that may be useful. These include grave papers,
adoption papers, old school reports, family photographs and any old
newspaper cuttings. You will certainly find it informative, if you
talk to older family members who can tell you about family members
who are no longer alive. Be sure to record the information you
obtain and try and establish any relevant dates.
More information on my family
Local Register Office
All Register Offices hold records of Births, Deaths and
Marriages from 1837 for their own area. If you wish to purchase a
copy certificate, you will need to state the name, the approximate
date and place of the event. Most Register Offices will search a
maximum of five years.
If you wish to undertake a wider search of the indexes, you can
book a general search with a Register Office. For a fee of £18
you can spend up to six hours searching the Register Office
Indexes. This allows you to search all indexes for a maximum of six
hours. If you needed any certificates to be issued, you would pay
an additional fee for each certificate.
Duplicate certificates can be purchased for £9 each. If you are
paying for your completed application request by credit or debit
card, a £1 administration charge is made for all transactions below
£10.
The Registrars section only has information on people who
died, were born, or got married or joined in civil
partnership in Rochdale. For births, deaths and marriages and
civil partnerships that took place in another part of the
country or outside the country you would need to contact another
Register Office in another area, or the embassy or high commission
of that country.
If you wish to undertake a search of the records at Rochdale
Register Office, please email Rochdale Register office for more
information.
Lancashire Family History Society
View Rochdale Birth, Marriage and Death indexes on the web!
Rochdale Register office is working in partnership with
Lancashire Family History Society to make all indexes records for
birth, marriages and deaths available on the Internet.
Census Records
In 1801 the Government introduced a national census of the
population of this country. This has been carried out every 10
years since. This information gives details of where people lived
and worked and reflected social trends of the time.
Many of the older census records for Rochdale can be viewed at
the Local Studies section of Rochdale Library. They are located in
the Arts and Heritage Centre, The Esplanade, Rochdale.
The Government only makes census records available after 100
years. The most recent census to be released is the 1901 records.
These census records are the first to be available on the
Internet.
Birth Death and Marriage Records
Heywood - 1837 to present day. Some General Register Office
indexes may have Heywood shown as district but the birth was in
Radcliffe area, these records are at Bury
Council's website
Littleborough - 1837 to present day.
Middleton - 1837-1933; 1974 to present. (1933-1974 records are
held at Oldham Council's website
Milnrow - 1837 to present day Rochdale1837 to present day
Whitworth 1837-1974 (after this date, they are at Hyndburn and
Rossendale Register Office).
Further useful website links