In 1837 it became compulsory to register all births, marriages and deaths. Registration districts were defined and all records began to be collated nationally – as they still are today. Copies of birth, marriage and death certificates for England and Wales are available through the General Records Office www.gro.gov.uk.
Prior to 1837 the only records were those kept by parish churches of Christenings, marriages and burials. Records for Hunsdon back to 1546 have been found and are now stored in the Hertfordshire Archives in Hertford. However in 1915 the Hon. Herbert Cokayne Gibbs of Briggens took it upon himself to assemble the various records, transcribe them from manuscript and publish a magnificent book “The Parish Registers of Hunsdon Co. Hertford 1546 – 1837”, of which several copies are available around and about the village.
In 2006, Hunsdon Parish Council supported a proposal to create a database of these records and to make them generally available online. The transfer of nearly 7000 records was completed, thanks to a few individuals including the late Alan Hampton, the late John Ashley MBE and the late David Kitching. The database is stored on the Hunsdon Village Website. Click here to open the search in a new tab or window.
