Website of the UK government

Checking electoral registers

You can use the electoral register to look for someone if you know the area where they lived last. The electoral register lists the name and address of everyone registered to vote in a given area. To find out how to access an electoral register, contact the local council for that area.

• Find your local electoral register Opens new window

A full set of electoral registers for the UK, since 1947, is held by the British Library.

• The British Library Opens new window

If you can’t find the person on the register, this could mean they:

• have not registered to vote
• have moved
• have married and changed their name
• are no longer living

Searching birth, marriage and death information

The General Register Office (GRO) holds records, for England and Wales, of all:

• births
  
• marriages
  
• civil partnerships 
  
• deaths
  
• adoptions granted by a court
  

To find out how to search for this information, see ‘Using the General Register Office to research family history’.

• Using the General Register Office to research family history (government, citizens and rights section)

You can order copies of birth, marriage and death certificates online, by post or telephone from the GRO. You can also contact the local register office where the event took place. Certificates should include addresses, which you can use to check the electoral registers for the area.

• Order a birth, marriage or death certificate (government, citizens and rights section)

• Search for your local register office Opens new window

Searching wills

If you think the person you are looking for has died, you can search records of wills kept at the Principal Probate Registry Search Room in London. You may want to check these records in case the person you are looking for died abroad or while on duty with armed forces. 

You can either:

• go in person
• request a search to be carried out on your behalf for a small fee

You can use form PA1S, available from the link below, to request a search . If you want to visit in person, you will need to make an appointment in advance.

• Contact details for the Principal Probate Registry Search Room Opens new window

• Download search request form PA1S Opens new window

The National Archives has records of wills from 1858 to 1943.

• National Archives Opens new window

Searching for name changes

The person you are looking for may have changed their name. Most name changes are done using the Deed Poll process. Deed Poll involves using a solicitor to legally change part or all of a name. The only official records of Deed Polls are those that are registered or ‘enrolled’ with the Royal Courts of Justice. You can get information about name changes enrolled within the last five years by writing to the Royal Courts of Justice in London. Enrolled changes of name over five years old are held by The National Archives at Kew.

• Contact the Royal Courts of Justice about Deed Poll information Opens new window

Finding family members

If you are looking for your birth or adoptive family, you can check your original birth registration record once you are 18 years old.

• Find your original birth or adoption record (government, citizens and rights)

You can also use the family tracing services provided by The Salvation Army or The Red Cross.

The Salvation Army Family Tracing Service

The Salvation Army Family Tracing Service helps to find relatives who are over the age of 18. For information about the service, call 0845 634 4747.

• Salvation Army Family Tracing Service Opens new window

The Red Cross

The Red Cross runs a tracing service for relatives who have lost touch due to war or international disasters.

• The Red Cross tracing service Opens new window

For a further list of charities that help find missing people, see ‘Missing People – help and support’.

• Missing people - help and support