In England and Wales The Register Office is primarily the local office for the registration of births, deaths and marriages (B,D&M), and for the conducting of civil marriages. Set up by Act of Parliament in 1837, the statutory registration service is overseen by the Registrar General but provided locally by the County or Unitary local authority.

The Register Office is the office of the Superintendent Registrar of the District, in whose custody are all the registers of B,D&M dating back to 1837. The Superintendent Registrar is also responsible for conducting the legal preliminaries to marriage and conducting civil marriage ceremonies.

Registrations of B,D&M are carried out by a registrar of B,D&M and each Registration District will have one or more registrars and each may be responsible for a particular sub district.

The years from 1994 has seen more changes in the registration service since it inception, and the Register Office may now provide many more celebratory service including statutory Citizenship and Civil Partnership ceremonies and non statutory ceremonies such as naming and renewal of vows. All civil ceremonies may also now take place in local approved premises such as hotels or public buildings.

In the media the Register Office may often be incorrectly referred to as the Registry Office.