Civil records can be one of the best resources to help you build your family tree and link one generation of your family to the next.

These records provide you with information about your ancestors, such as date of birth, death and marriage. They may also include parents names, occupations, and more.

Government offices create civil records (also known as vital records) to document vital information about their citizens, and in most countries, it is a legal requirement to register these events. The most essential and standard records include birth, marriage and death but may also include divorce, change of name, foetal death adoption records and more.

Civil registration gives people a legal name and identity within society, allowing them access to government services. Civil registration can be used to establish evidence, for example, rights to an inheritance. Vital documents of citizens also enable government departments to track vital statistics, including population count and causes of deaths through birth and death registrations.

The level of government that is responsible for civil registrations differs depending on the country and the era. You may need to hunt for these registrations at an office that holds vital records in your country or area. These records may be maintained within your country either centrally, federally, by the local state, provincial, territorial, county, or within your city.

You can search for birth, death, marriage records on websites such as FamilySearch, Ancestry and FindMyPast. Alternatively, you can also find the office that holds vital documents in your country, state or territory.

To find a civil record, you will first need to know an approximate year and area where the birth, marriage, death, or another vital record would have occurred.

Websites where you may find vital records for your ancestors:

• Ancestry
• FamilySearch
• FindMyPast
• MyHeritage
• FreeBMD

Australian Resources:

New South Wales

Victoria

Queensland

Western Australia 

South Australia

Tasmania 

Northern Territory

ACT

New Zealand Resources:

Birth Death & Marriages Online

Canadian Resources:

Library and Archives Canada

The Provincial Archives of New Brunswick

England & Wales Resources: 

The National Archives

Scotland: 

ScotlandsPeople

Ireland: 

IrishGenealogy

USA: 

CDC

To help you record your documents, including your civil records for each ancestor, I have put together this FREE ancestor profile scribble sheet.

Happy searching!