1836 Registration Act

The Registration Act 1836 established the General Register Office and a new system of national registration of births, marriages and deaths to take effect from 1837. There was a need to set up a system to record births, to aid with the planning of services and to record deaths to enable further study on the causes of mortality.

The accurate recording of births and deaths was to be a vital tool in improving population health and would later enable systematic interventions such as vaccination, as well as aiding research and data analysis.