- 1837 1 July
| Civil registration is introduced in England and Wales. |
- 1866
| Aged of death is recorded in Death Indexes. |
- 1907
| Deceased Wife's Sister Marriage Act gave a man permission to marry |
| he's deceased wife's sister. |
- 1911 September
| Birth indexes introduce the recording of mother's maiden name. |
- 1912
| Marriage indexes contain name of the second party. |
- 1921
| Deceased Brother's Widow Marriage Act gives women permission to |
| marry her deceased husband's brother. |
- 1926
| Adoption of Children Act allowed for the adoption of children, with the |
| introduction of an Adopted Children's Register. |
- 1926
| Legitimacy Act permitted children to be re-registered when parents |
| become married. |
- 1927
| Registration of still births is made compulsory (however the register is |
| not made available to the public). |
- 1929
| The Minimum Age of marriage is changed to 16. Before this date the |
| minimum age for girls was 12 years and for boys the age was 14 years |
| with their parent's consent. |
- 1931
| Marriage between uncle and neice/aunt and nephew is allowed. |
- 1947
| Short Birth Certificate is introduced (does not contain parent's names, |
| therefore useless to the Genealogist). |
- 1949
| Register of Births and Deaths in Aircraft contains any births or deaths |
| that took place in an aircraft that was registered in Great Britain or |
| Northern Ireland whereever this event occurred in the world. |
- 1959
| Legitimacy Act permitted children born when one of their parents was |
| married to someone else to be legitimized. Children could be |
| re-registered if they have been previously entered under the women's |
| husband's name. |
- 1969
| Death indexes contain date of birth. |
- 1969
| Age of majority is reduced from 21 to 18. Parental consent to marriage |
| is now needed for people under the age of 18. |
- 1975
| Children Act 1975 allowed adopted children to obtain the original |
| information on their birth certificate. |
- 1986
| People allowed to marry a stepchild or stepgrandchild; both parties had |
| to be over 18 and the child must not have been treated as a child of the |
| person's family. |