Copy birth certificates and historical searches

We can help if you wish to trace a birth registered in Lambeth from 1837 to the present day, and if you want to purchase a copy certificate.

How to apply for a copy certificate

If you wish to obtain a copy certificate for a birth that was registered in Lambeth you can apply by post or by telephone.

In person

If you come to see us, we will give you an application form and help you fill it in. Or you can contact us and we will send you one by post.

By telephone

If you wish to apply for a certificate by telephone and would like to make a credit or debit card payment please call 020 7926 9420.

Staff at our call centre will take your name and contact number and then a member of the register office will call you back.

By post

If you are applying by post, please send us the following:

• 1) Details of the person’s full name at birth, exact place of birth including the sub district if applicable, exact date of birth and parents name including mother’s maiden name.
  
  2) If you do not have the exact details or if you have found a reference from other sources i.e. the Vol / page details, it is suggested that you submit your application to The General Register Office where the records are held of births, marriages and deaths registered in England and Wales since 1st July 1837.
  
  Index reference numbers held up to 1993 at this register office are specific to this office and do not relate to the GRO indexes found on the internet or on microfiche copies held by many public bodies.
  
  Undertaking a search without the exact details can take some time to locate, if the event took place in Lambeth.
• Cheque for £7 (full birth certificate) or £5.50 (short birth certificate) made payable to London Borough of Lambeth.

Fee

Full birth certificate: £7

Short birth certificate: £5.50

Visit the registering a birth page for the difference between the certificates.

How long will it take?

For personal application we offer the same day service for applications received in the office by 1pm. We will aim to issue the certificate within three hours.

Applications received after 1pm can be collected after 11am from the following working day.

For applications applied for by credit or debit card via the call centre, we will contact you once we have located the entry for payment details. We will then aim to issue the certificates within two working days.

For historical searches please see below.

For postal applications, we will log your form on the day it arrives and aim to issue the certificate within two working days.

If we can't issue a certificate

We won't be able to issue a copy certificate if we don't hold the record you're looking for or can't trace it from the information you provide.

If you applied by post we will aim to write and let you know within two working days.

If we don't hold the record, we'll let you know which Register Office does.

Historical searches

Superintendent Registrars do not have the staff to undertake searches of an indefinite or protracted nature.

If you do not have the exact details or you have found a reference from other sources, for example the volume number/page details, it is suggested that you submit your application to birth certificate service from the General Register Office.

Usually a search in the birth index, covering a period not exceeding five years, will be made but only where accurate details have been given of the birth registration.

If a wider search is required it is necessary for the applicant or someone on his/her behalf to make a general search in the indexes.

For further information contact the Superintendent Registrar.