A registration district in the United Kingdom is a type of administrative region which exists for the purpose of civil registration of births, marriages, and deaths. It has also been used as the basis for the collation of census information.

Each district is divided into sub-districts, each of which has a registrar responsible for the registration of births, marriages, civil partnerships, and deaths in his or her area. Overall responsibility for a district is held by a superintendent registrar.

Origin and development of registration districts

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England and Wales

Registration districts in England and Wales were created with the introduction of civil registration on July 1, 1837, and were originally co-terminous with poor law unions. Their existence as autonomous entities came to an end in 1930, when the relevant administrative county or county borough was made responsible. A subsequent series of reforms of local government has resulted in the responsibility today being held by the relevant county council, unitary authority, metropolitan district, or London borough.

Registration districts are not always co-terminous with county boundaries, and so in the past were grouped into "registration counties" for statistical purposes.

Scotland

Registration districts in Scotland came into being with the introduction of civil registration there in 1855. Registration districts still exist today in their own right, and so do not coincide with the current council areas; recent proposals made by the Scottish Executive would end this division if brought into force.

Ireland

to be written.

External links

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• Status details for Registration District (A Vision of Britain)
• Registration Districts in England and Wales (1837-1930) (GENUKI)
• Analysis of the Response to the second Consultation on Proposals to Improve and Modernise the Registration Service in Scotland (Scottish Executive)