What information will a vital statistics record of a birth, death, or marriage provide? This will vary widely by location and time period. In general, vital records forms usually allow space for the following information but are not consistently filled in by the users.
Birth records usually contain:
- name of child
- race of child
- gender of child
- date and place of birth
- mother's name (sometimes including maiden name)
- father's name
and may contain:
- mother's age, race, occupation and place of birth
- father's age, race, occupation and place of birth
- number of children in family
- number this child is in family
- witnesses to the birth
Marriage records usually contain:
- full name of bride
- full name of groom
- date and place of marriage
and may contain:
- age and birth date of bride
- age and birth date of groom
- names and place of birth for bride's and groom's parents
- residences of bride and groom
- occupations of bride and groom
- whether single, widowed or divorces
- number of previous marriages for both the bride and groom
- witnesses and officials present at the marriage
Death records usually contain:
- name
- date of death
- place of death
and may contain:
- age at death
- cause of death
- exact time of death
- date and place of birth (if known)
- current residence
- occupation
- parents' names and birth places (rarely, but sometimes)
- spouse's name, including maiden name for wife (if applicable)
- whether single, widowed or divorced
- place of burial
- name of funeral home
- name of physician or medical examiner
- name of informant & their relationship to the deceased
- officials or witnesses present at death
Divorce records usually contain:
- names of husband and wife
- date of marriage
- date of divorce
and may contain:
- ages and/or birth dates of husband and wife
- current residence for husband and wife
- names and birth dates of children
- reasons for divorce
Adoption records usually run from the same time period of birth records, but are usually sealed by law. The access rights to adoption records vary by country, region, province, state, etc. In order to access them you will, in most cases, have to petition the court for approval.
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