Immediate attention should be paid to those sources which are at risk, including oral information, papers in the custody of individuals, and gravestones. These may be followed by a search of the civil registration records of births, marriages, and deaths, and the census records. If they are not easily accessible to you where you live, you can look up the indexes to the births, marriages, and deaths, and copies of the census records when you come to the National Library of Wales. Births, marriages and deaths Civil registration of births, marriages, and deaths was introduced in England and Wales on 1 July 1837. The records for the whole of England and Wales are held centrally by the General Register Office.
Local registrars hold copies of the records for their own districts.
Microfiche copies of the General Register Office's indexes of births, marriages, and deaths from 1837 to 1998 are available for searching free of charge at the National Library of Wales. Or you may search the indexes free of charge at the Family Records Centre in London. Once you have found a likely entry in the indexes, you may apply for a certificate containing the corresponding details of birth, marriage, or death. The National Library of Wales does not issue certificates, but will carry out a search of the indexes for a fee. The census returns for England and Wales for the period 1841 - 1891 are now available for inspection at the Family Records Centre in London, and many local record offices and libraries hold microform copies for their appropriate areas.