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Births, Marriages and Deaths

9. Registration districts for England & Wales

Introduction

The registration districts were formed from the Poor Law Unions.

The areas that stretched across several parishes, they had elected Overseers of the Poor who were answerable to the parishes and the area's Justice of the Peace.

English & Welsh Registration District volume numbers over time.

 

 1837-1852 1852-1946 1946-1974 1974  
Greater London 1 - 5 1A - 1D* 5A - 5D 11 - 15 *1E does not exist. A Vol ref that looks like 1e will therefore be 1c.
Surrey 4 2A 5G 11, 13 - 15, 17  
Kent 5 2A 5B 11, 16  
Sussex 7 2B 5H 18  
Isle of Wight 8 2B 6B 20  
Hampshire 7 - 8 2B - 2C 6B 14, 20, 23  
Berkshire 6 2C 6A 19, 20  
Hertfordshire 6 3A 4B 10 - 11  
Oxfordshire 16 3A 6B, 7B 20  
Buckinghamshire 6 3A 6A 19  
Middlesex 3 3A* 5A - 5E 11 - 13 *3A includes Edmonton (Tottenham etc).
Berdfordshire 6 3B 4A 9  
Cambridgeshire 14 3B 4A 9  
Huntindonshire 14 3B 4B 9  
Northamptonshire 15 3B 3B 7  
Essex 12 4A* 4A, 5A 9, 11, 13, 15 *4A includes West Ham
Suffolk 12 - 13 4A 4B 10 - 11  
Norfolk 13 4B 4B 10  
Wiltshire 8 5A 7C 10  
Dorset 8 5A 6A, 7C 22 - 23  
Devon 9 - 10 5B 7A 21  
Cornwall/Scilly 9 5C 7A 21  
Somerset 10 - 11* 5C, 6A** 7C 22 - 23 * In Somerset vol XI or 11 is for Bristol districts only. Page: 43 **In Somerset 6A is for Bristol districts only.
Gloucestershire 11 6A 7B 22  
Shropshire 18 6A 9A 30  
Herefordshire 26 6A 9A 29  
Staffordshire 17 6B 9B 30, 34  
Worcestershire 18 6C 9D 29, 33  
Warwickshire 16 6D 9C 31 - 34  
Leicestershire 15 7A 3A 6  
Lincolnshire 14 7A 3B 7  
Rutland 15 7A 3C 6  
Nottinghamshire 15 7B 3C 6, 8  
Derbyshire 19 7B 3A, 10A 6  
Cheshire 19 8A 10A 35, 37, 39  
Lancashire 20 - 21 8B - 8E 10B - 10F 1, 35 - 40  
Yorkshire 22 - 24 9A - 9D* 14 - 1B, 2A - 2D 2 - 5, 7 *9E does not exist. A Vol ref that looks like 9e will therefore be 9c.
Durham 24 10A 1A 1 - 2  
Cumberland 25 10B 1A 1  
Northumberland Westmoreland 25 10B 1B 1 1 - 2  
Wales 26 - 27 11A - 11B 8A - 8C 24 - 28  

Also note that the County boundaries change over time and do not coincide exactly with Vol numbers.

The GENUKI site has a very useful list of which places are in which registration district from 1837 to 1930. 

Registration districts volume numbers in pdf

pdfDownload file in pdf - (File size: 59.8 kb)

Please note that the 1837 - 1852 Registration Districts were originally expressed in Roman numerals, as follows: I=1
II=2
III=3
IV=4
V=5
VI=6
VII=7
VIII=8
IX=9
X=10
XI=11
XII=12
XIII=13
XIV=14
XV=15
XVI=16
XVII=17
XVIII=18
XIX=19
XX=20
XXI=21
XXII=22
XXIII=23
XXIV=24
XXV=25
XXVI=26
XXVII=27

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Registration district maps

  • 1837 - 1851
  • 1851 - 1946
  • 1946 - 1965
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