COLEEN COLEMAN wrote: > Would like to know if England kept records of births or if they were > baptisms kept instead? John Hyland born 1855 To Thomas and Mary (Dwyer) > Hyland and Margaret born 1859 to > Thomas and Mary (Dwyer) Hyland. Thanks so much for your input. We have certificates of birth, marriage and death from 1 July 1837 to the present. We have baptisms, marriages and burials from 1538 (and sometimes earlier) to the present. Certs can be ordered from the GRO online. The address you need is www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/ They cost 9.25GBP postage paid anywhere in the world. You will also find the following of use in telling you what information you will get from certs at different times: http://home.clara.net/dixons/Certificates/indexbd.htm -- Charani (UK) OPC for Walton, Ashcott, Shapwick, Greinton and Clutton, SOM http://wsom-opc.org.uk