Certificate services

Plymouth Registration Service holds:

• the registers for all births and deaths and civil marriages that have occurred within the Plymouth boundaries since 1837
• the marriage registers from churches, chapels mosques and synagogues (registered for marriage) within the Plymouth boundaries are deposited with us once they have been filled or marriages that took place in a religious building without a register will be recorded in the register office registers dating back to 1837

Provided we have sufficient information to identify an entry in a register, we are able to issue certified copies (certificates).

Entries in the registers are identified through a manual or computerised index of names. The indexes are organised according to area, sub-district or religious building.

Application for certificates should be made in writing to the district register office in the area where the event took place, supplying names, dates and place the event occurred. (Forms can be obtained from any register office). Plymouth Registration Service accepts postal applications accompanied by a cheque for the statutory fee; fax or email applications followed by a credit card payment by telephone and will soon be accepting applications on line via the Plymouth City Council website.

You may conduct a search of the public indexes in person. An appointment is required which will give you access to the indexes for one day. A member of staff will be allocated to retrieve the indexes you require, verify entries and produce certificates if your search is successful. Please contact the office for the current charges.

Civil partnership certificates may be obtained from the local authority register office where the civil partnership took place. A standard (full) certificate can be issued only where the applicant can provide the full address of both partners at the time of the civil partnership registration. Otherwise an extract certificate can be issued. An index of civil partnership registrations for each authority can be viewed upon request.

Please note that public registers and certificates are crown copyright and protected under Section 163 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 so they may not be lawfully reproduced. For the purposes of this guidance, the term copying includes: photocopying, scanning, filming, reproduction in any other media, including the placing of material on the internet.

Fees

Certificates requested before the time of registration and for 1 month after registration for both death and marriage - £3.50

Certificates requested after registration (for birth, death and marriage - 1 month after registration)

• Extract birth - £5.50
• Extract civil partnership - £7
• Standard birth, death, marriage and civil partnership - £7

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