Welcome to the year 1837. Changes were a foot, we will be looking a few and look at a change that we have even now in 2017.
The old king, William IV (left) dying from a heart attack on 20th June 1837, after ruling for just short of 7 years of 6 days!
The throne passed to his niece Victoria (below), Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, from 1837 to her death, 1901 also she had the title of Empress of India, 1876.
Queen Victoria during July moved from Kensington Palace to Buckingham Palace, the first monarch rather than St. James Palace.
Staying with July, the 1st, so making 180 anniversary was the creation of the General Registration Office, based at the North Wing of Somerset House (below)
It was during 1836, with the passing of the Births and Deaths Registration Act and the full civil registration came into force in 1837.
The reasons for the creation of the GRO was due to the poor state that parish registers, during this period there were only two churches around Swansea that were kept registers, St. Mary's (1631) and St. John-juxta-Swansea, Hafod (1797), registering the baptisms.
This is an baptisms of Henrietta Letitia Vivian (left) born August 9th 1837, yet there doesn’t appear to be a birth certificate, though we can see that she was baptised on September 11th. The entry tells us that her father, John Henry Vivian, is MP for the new constituency of Swansea
A couple could have had all their children baptisted at one time. 
Pictured right is an example of this from St. John-juxta-Swaansea, in 1837. Mr Brindley must have had a deal three for the price of two!
On the other hand some children weren't baptised at all. There were two kinds of birth certificate, a short version, with just only the baby's details, and a full version with parent's details. An example of this is pictured showing the birth certificate, of Martha Vaughan, which was the 12th certificate to be produced at Swansea. A birth had to be registered with 42 days either at the district officer, Superintendent Registrar, Mr Charles Collins, 5 Fisher Street or sub-dsitrct officer, Registrar of Swansea District, Mr John Oakshot, 14 High Street
Registration could be under-taken by either father or mother, and if this wasn’t carried out there was a fine of 4d.
What information is provided above.
- Date and Place of Birth
The later the certificate the fuller the address is. In our example, surprising July 1st 1837
- Name
Forenames and surname of the child at the time of the birth. If there is a line through this column, then there is no name. In our example, Martha Vaughan
- Sex
male or female
- Father’s Name
The absence of the father’s name may mean that the baby is illegiti-mate. Before 1875 a woman could name any man as the father. In our example, George Vaughan
- Name and Maiden Name of Mother
This extra bit of information will help to track down the mother’s own parents, as well as the marriage of the parents themselves. In our example Mary Evans
- Occupation of the Father
This is another useful piece of information for confirming that the certificate is the correct one for the family. In our example game keeper and victualler
- Signature, Description and Residence Information
Most usually one of the parents, but it could have been a grandparent or another relative.
- Date Registered
Registration usually took place within 42 days. In our example, 31 days
Signature of Registrar
Names Entered after Registration
Used to record any other names given to the child