On going to carry out a routine client order this morning, I noticed a change to the General Register Office website. It would appear that the General Register Office www.gro.gov.uk have added the facility to search their own copy of the index. Importantly, and only having had a cursory look, their index seems to add the ability to look at mother’s maiden surnames prior to 1911, and ages at death prior to 1867. Both or which will significantly ease ordering of a correct certificate.
It would appear that you have to be a registered user and signed into the site to see the index.
I am guessing the data is from the aborted digitization of vital events (DOVE) project, so I am guessing was indexed from the originals, rather than the old indexes.
This could prove a great help to many family mysteries, and saved wasted time and money ordering the wrong certificates.
Is this the start of access to non certified copies from the historical indexes?