Buy copies of certificates

What you can apply for

You can apply for copies of birth, death, marriages, and civil partnerships that took place in:

• Islington
• The City of London

The City of London refers to the square mile. Check the map on the City of London website.

Costs

Each certificate costs £12.50

Postage

Standard first-class delivery: £2

You cannot track certificates posted with this option. If they do not arrive, you must apply and pay the fees again. You can make a claim for lost items from the Royal Mail.

Special delivery: £7.35

This option does not speed up the time it takes us to process your application. 

You can track your items. Once posted, Royal Mail aim to deliver by 1pm the next working day. Someone must sign for them on delivery.

How long it takes

After you apply, it will take:

• up to 20 working days (one month) while we process your application
• plus the delivery time depending on which postage option you paid for

It can take longer for us to process your application if:

• you have not given the right information and fee in your application
• you recently married in a church, as the church needs to deliver the records to our office first

We cannot give updates on the progress of your application, unless you submitted your application more than 20 working days ago.

Urgent orders

Urgent certificates cost £38.50. We produce your certificate within three working days of your order. 

You must order them in person at Islington Town Hall. You cannot order them online or by post. 

We will let you know when you can collect the certificate.

Apply for copies

You will need to give

• first name and surname
• date the birth, death, marriage or civil partnership took place
• where it took place
• payment 

If you’re ordering a marriage or civil partnership certificate, you will also need to give the:

• names of the partners
• names before they were married

Online

The easiest way to apply is online.

• Birth certificate application
• Civil partnership certificate application
• Death certificate application
• Marriage certificate application

Post

Download, print and complete the form in the 'Useful documents' section.

Include a postal order for the correct fee made payable to 'London Borough of Islington'. We cannot accept payments by cheque.

Post it to:

Islington and City of London Register Office
Islington Town Hall
Upper Street
N1 2UD

Refunds

If for any reason we cannot produce your requested certificate, we will process a partial refund. We keep £5 of the amount paid as a search and administration fee.

How far back our certificate records go

Most of the time, we can only provide copies of certificates dating back to 1945. This is because of damage to our records during the Second World War. Sometimes, we may be able to go as far back as 1837.

Ordering with genealogy reference numbers

Reference numbers provided by genealogical websites do not match our records. This includes ancestry.co.uk. Contact the General Register Office for details of these records instead.