Birth, marriage and death records (BMDs) form the backbone of our research. Many websites provide access to the information in the General Register Office's (GRO's) civil indexes of BMDs for England and Wales, which began on 1 July 1837. However, the database at FreeBMD (freebmd.org.uk), which is being built by volunteers, is the best starting point because of its flexible searches, although the site's coverage only runs from September 1837 to December 1997.
