Southwark Registration ServiceDo you need to register a birth, death, citizenship ceremony, civil partnership or marriage?
Please use the links to the left of this page to find more detailed information. 
If the birth, death or marriage took place in the London Borough of Southwark after 1900 we can provide you with a copy of a certificate. You can also obtain a copy of a  birth, death or marriage certificate online.
Pre 1900 certificates
Are you researching your family history? Are you curious about your ancestry?
Did you know that Southwark Register Office hold the records for all births, deaths and marriages that occurred in Southwark's districts dated as far back as 1837?
Southwark Register Office is pleased to announce that we are now able to produce birth, death and marriage certificates from entries prior to 1900.
If you have the exact details (link to list of details we require) of the event, the registrar will locate the entry and produce the certificate for you. You will however need to be sure of the details you supply in order to receive the correct certificate.
Information we require
If applying for a copy of a birth certificate
- Full name of the person whose certificate you require
- Date of birth (DD/MM/YYYY)
- Address of place of birth (If hospital birth, the name of the hospital is sufficient)
- Parents full names including mother’s maiden name (if applicable)
If applying for a copy of a marriage certificate we will require
- Full names of the parties married (including bride’s maiden name)
- Date of marriage
- Place of marriage (if the marriage took place in a church, you will need to state the name of the church)
If applying for a copy of a death certificate
- Full name of the deceased
- Date of death
- Place of death
In all cases, the place must include the sub-district or precise address where the event occurred. Please see our list of sub districts.
If you are unable to supply the details we require, you have the option of searching the indexes yourself, or we can appoint a Registrar to conduct a search of the indexes for you.
Please note that there is a charge for this service.
If you are unsure of exactly where in Southwark an event took place or unsure of any of the details you have two options
- You can search the indexes yourself for up to 6 hours
- You can enlist the help of a trained Registrar to do the search of these events for you! We will search the districts and produce the certificate(s) you are requesting.
If we are unsuccessful in locating the entry you require, we will supply you with a log of the districts we have searched. This will help you if in future you obtain more information and decide to search again.
Search fees
If you have the exact details for us to locate the entry, the search fee is £7.00 per certificate.
If you wish to search the indexes yourself (for up to 6 hours), the search fee is £18.00 and £7.00 for each certificate you require.
If you wish the Registrar to conduct the search on your behalf, the extended search fee is £25.00 and £7.00 per certificate, which must be payed for by two separate cheques. However, if you supply the exact details for us to carry out a straightforward search and we are able to locate the entry you require, your cheque for £25.00 will be returned to you. Even if you believe you have all the correct details, please send a cheque for £25.00 for the extended search fee. This will be returned to you with your certificate if we do not need to undertake an extended search, however it enables us to complete the search if insufficient or non-matching details have been supplied.
All cheques and Postal Orders to be made payable to The London Borough of Southwark.
The borough incorporates the districts of Newington, Bermondsey, Rotherhithe, Peckham, Camberwell, Dulwich, Southwark, St Saviour, St Olave and St. George Southwark.
Please try and give as much information as possible to make it easier for us to deal with your request.
Sometimes, we cannot find an entry. This could be due to insufficient or incorrect information. We will always contact you to see whether there is anything else you can tell us. If we cannot provide you with a copy certificate, we will refund in full the fee you paid us.
Our fees
A full birth certificate, death certificate or marriage certificate costs £7.00 and a short certificate costs £5.50. Please make cheques payable to London Borough of Southwark.
You can apply online, for the form you wish to order and make a secure online payment. If you wish for extra security in receiving your certificate in the post, we can offer a recorded delivery service for extra £1.00. Please contact us by phone, fax or in person at the address below
Bereavement Support Service
About the service
We recognise that in addition to coping with bereavement, you are also faced with making many arrangements and notifying a large number of organisations; this can be confusing, distressing and time consuming and you will often have to notify different organisations with the same information.
We offer two levels of service, depending on your circumstance
- If you are registering the death of a Southwark resident we can offer you a full notification service. Here we will take the necessary information from you in order to be able to act on your behalf.
- If the deceased was not a Southwark resident, we can still assist you by signposting you to the organisations you may need to contact and provide you with an information pack.
Both services are free and confidential and we will only notify those organisations and departments that give us permission to.
How we can help
The Bereavement Support Service can assist you in a number of ways, we can
- Notify on your behalf a number of Southwark Council and central government departments about the death
- Provide you with information and advice about a range of services, who else you need to inform, probate, counselling and other support services
- Assist you in accessing additional benefits and monies to which you may be entitled.
How to book an appointment
You can book an appointment by calling 020 7525 7651. To make it easier for you, we can book you an appointment to coincide with your appointment with the Registrar to register the death. Alternatively we can book you an appointment at a time and date convenient to you.
We also offer a walk-in service, you can access this service by visiting us at
Southwark Register Office
34 Peckham Road
London
SE5 8QA
Simply ask at the ground floor reception for our service and one of the team will be with you as soon as they can. The walk-in service is available between 10am and 3:30pm every weekday.
At the appointment
Your appointment should last no more than 30 minutes and you will be seen by one of our specially trained Bereavement Support Officers (BSO) who will collect the necessary information so that we can notify the relevant organisations on your behalf. We can save you time and money, you simply give us the information once and let us do the work for you.
To assist the BSO and to save you time, it would helpful if you could have the following documents / information to your appointment
- The deceased’s National Insurance number
- A death certificate (unless you are registering the death at the same time)
- If you are the next of kin and you are in receipt of, or may be entitled to, benefits, please bring your own National Insurance number
- If you are not the next of kin we will still be able to help you, however we may not be able to offer all of the services without the next of kin’s written permission. In these cases, it would assist if you could bring signed consent from the next of kin
At your appointment you will also receive an information pack tailored to your own personal circumstances and you will be able to access a range of other resources and materials that will assist you in making the necessary arrangements regarding the death.
Follow-up appointment
For those of you who qualify for the full notification service, we will offer you a follow-up appointment, typically 4 weeks after your initial appointment, where we will
- Review the activities we have undertaken on your behalf
- Assist you with any further enquiries you may have
- Complete the notifications process to give you peace of mind
In most cases the follow-up appointment will be over the phone, but a face-to-face appointment can be booked in some circumstances.
For further information
For more information about the range of services we provide, you can call us on 020 7525 7651 or email us at bereavementservice@southwark.gov.uk
Contact us
Southwark register office
Tel: 020 7525 7651 (or 020 7525 5000 in an out of hours emergency)
Fax: 020 7525 7652
registrars@southwark.gov.uk
34 Peckham Road
London SE5 8QA
Regular opening hours: 9.30am to 4pm, Monday to Friday
These pages refer to obtaining copies of certificates which have already been issued.
If you wish to register a birth or death, you need to make an appointment. If you wish to register your intent to be married, and you reside in the London Borough of Southwark, we offer a new walk in Service (mornings only) for the first ten couples who visit the Southwark Register Office in person, at the above address. Otherwise, you need to make an appointment.
Contacts
The General Register Office (ONS)
Tel: 0845 603 7788
www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content
Smedley Hydro
Trafalgar Road
Birkdale
Southport
PR8 2HH |