Registrar General Annual Reports on births, deaths and marriages

We all know there's nothing more fascinating than sitting down and getting tucked into reading a good annual report. Yeah!

Apparently there are enough of us looking for context for our family and history studies who find this sort of thing interesting for the company Anguline Research Archives to find it worthwhile reproducing on CD the Registrar General's Annual Reports for 1901. Isn't the long tail wonderful!

The company describes it thus:

The contents of this report includes population (census & estimated). Detailed statistics of Births, Marriages and Deaths including causes. Offences against the Registration Acts, Literacy. A Meteorological Report for the year 1901.

There are also included many interesting abstracts of Births, including number, rates, sex, illegitimate; Marriages, including number, rates, forms of marriage, ages signatures in marriage register etc. etc.; Deaths including number, general death rate, sex, ages, infantile mortality, urban and rural mortality, causes of deaths and deaths in public institutions etc.

Also covered is strength and mortality of the Army & Navy ; Births & Deaths at sea and a tabulation of causes of death due to disease, both general and local. Etc.

Plus an index of Registration Districts, Sub-districts and Urban Districts.

A useful reference guide for family and local historians which could be used to good effect in conjunction with the 1901 census.

Find it by scrolling about half-way down this page. For those of us in North America its likely better to order, and easier to find, through Archive CD Book Canada here.

That's only one year. I wondered if there are other issues available so turned to Google books. Unsurprisingly the answer is yes -- it wouldn't make much of a blog posting otherwise!

Google books have free full view versions of the Registrar General's annual report of births deaths and marriages for England from 1856, volume 17, which happens to include considerable discussion of the cholera outbreak of 1853 - 54, volumes 20, 26, 28, 36, 37, 42, and 47 which is for 1886.

The Internet archive only have a few issues but they do include the fourth report dated 1842.

Depending on the search terms you choose your search may also turn up other similar reports from Scotland, Ontario, and several Australian states.