Stamp duty on birth, marriage and death certificates

One of the first pieces of advice I was given when I started researching my family history was to ask family members for photocopies of any original documents they may have, such as original birth, marriage and death certificates.

This week I realised that this doesn’t just save money when it comes to ordering copies of certificates from the General Register Office (GRO), but also that the originals can teach me something I would never have learnt from the GRO copies.

While organising some of my family history documents, I noticed that the birth and marriage certificates my nan has given me include what looks like a postage stamp in the bottom right corner with a signature over the top. Here’s an example from a 1929 marriage certificate, featuring a George V stamp:

 

Following a bit of google research and this handy article on Sue Adams’ Family Folklore blog, I now know that these are actually examples of revenue stamps which were used to pay stamp duty, a tax on documents.

Although I was already aware of stamp duty, I didn’t realise that it had been paid with a physical stamp in the past. Had I not asked my family for copies of these original certificates, I may never have discovered this as the GRO copies don’t include this detail.

Sue Adams’ article states that these ‘Postage and Revenue’ stamps were introduced in 1881, though stamp duty had been imposed on the registration of births, marriages and deaths from 1783.

What I have yet to establish is when the practice of attaching a stamp to certificates died out. The latest example I have in my possession is from 1948. I’d be interested to hear from anyone who has a later example or knows the date this practice stopped.