<P> Civil registration of births, marriages and deaths in England and Wales started on 1 July 1837 . Registration was not compulsory until 1875, following the Registration of Births and Deaths Act 1874, which made registration of a birth the responsibility of those present at the birth . </P> <P> When a birth is registered, the details are entered into the register book at the local register office for the district in which the birth took place and is retained permanently in the local register office . A copy of each entry in the birth register is sent to the General Register Office (GRO). </P> <P> Before the government's registration system was created, evidence of births and / or baptisms (and also marriages and death or burials) was dependent on the events being recorded in the records of the Church of England or in those of other various churches--not all of which maintained such records or all types of those records . Copies of such records are not issued by the General Register Office; but can be obtained from these churches, or from the local or national archive, which usually now keeps the records in original or copy form . </P> <P> There are two types of birth certificates: </P>

Is a birth registration card the same as a birth certificate