This is a brief guide to help you with your research into a birth, marriage or death in the British Army, Royal Air Force, Royal Marines or Royal Navy. There is no single place or collection where you can easily search for a birth, marriage or death in the armed forces, although many resources are available.
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What do I need to know before I start?
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Try to find out:
- the person's name (and name of their parents, spouse or next of kin, where applicable)
- the approximate date of the birth, marriage or death, and the area where the event is likely to have taken place
- the armed force and, if applicable, regiment
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What records can I see online?
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Digitised copies of wills of Royal Naval Seamen (1786-1882)
Search and download (£There may be a charge for accessing this information. Searching indexes may be free.) wills of Royal Naval and Royal Marines personnel.
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Indexes to births, marriages and deaths in the armed forces (1761-1995)
Search indexes to the regimental registers, army chaplains' registers, army returns and service departments registers in the military section on findmypast (£There may be a charge for accessing this information. Searching indexes may be free.). The related certificates can be obtained from the General Register Office.
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What records can I find at The National Archives at Kew?
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Army registers of baptisms, marriages and burials in UK and overseas garrisons (1808-2007)
Browse Discovery, our cataloguea search tool with descriptions of tens of millions of documents from the UK central government, law courts, and other national bodies, in record series WO 156 to see which garrison records are held by The National Archives. The registers are relatively few in number and mainly date from the 20th century.
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RAF Chaplaincy Board registers of baptisms, confirmations, marriages and burials (1919-2009)
Browse our catalogue, in record series AIR 82 for registers of baptisms, confirmations, burials, and marriage (including banns) which were kept at various RAF stations in the British Isles and overseas. The records are searchable by name of RAF station/country and not by name of individual.
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Royal Navy Chaplaincy records of baptisms, marriages and burials (1845-1998)
Browse in ADM 338 for registers of baptisms, marriages and burials by the Chaplain of the Fleet. These will mostly cover Royal Navy personnel but can also include civilians of any nationality.
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To access these records you will either need to visit us, pay for research (£there will be a charge) or, where you can identify a specific record referencea unique set of letters and numbers identifying a document in The National Archives, order a copy (£there will be a charge).
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What records can I find in other archives and organisations?
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British Library birth, marriage and death records for the Indian subcontinent
Consult the Asia, Pacific and Africa Collection at the British Library for births or baptisms, marriages, and deaths or burials across the Indian subcontinent, including Burma and Aden.
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What other resources will help me find information?
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Websites
Search the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website for information about deaths in the First or Second World War.
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Books
Read Birth, Marriage and Death Records by Audrey Collins and David Annal (Pen and Sword, 2012)
Read Tracing your Ancestors in The National Archives by Amanda Bevan (The National Archives, 2006).
Read Airmen Died in the Great War by C M Hobson (J B Hayward & Son, 1995).
Read Tracing your Naval Ancestors by Bruno Pappalardo (The National Archives, 2003).
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Births, marriages and deaths in England and Wales
Births, marriages and deaths in Scotland and Ireland
Births, marriages and deaths at sea or abroad