A NEW service is giving residents across Caerphilly county borough the opportunity to research their family history online from the comfort of their own home with the service providing information going back as far as 1837.

Residents are now able to digitally search their family history records thanks to a new service from Caerphilly council.

The council’s registration service has been busy transferring index records of births, marriages and deaths in the county borough to an online search facility – the Historical Register Search pages on the council’s website.

Records dating back as far as 1837 are being digitised to make it easier and quicker for those wishing to explore their family tree to locate specific records.

The new service will also make it easier for people to request replacement documents.

The new online search facility will also reduce the need to handle fragile historical documents and papers.

Currently, the index available on the Historical Research Search includes births between 1837 and 1920, and 1998 and March 2007; marriages from 1837 to 2011; and deaths from 1998 to March 2007.

Caerphilly registrars are happy to assist residents who are unable to find the records they are searching for, while additional years are being added on a daily basis.

David Poole, Caerphilly council’s cabinet member for community and leisure services, said: “I’m pleased that the council has been able to extend this excellent facility so that residents can digitally search and request copies of birth, death and marriage certificates from the comfort of their homes.

“I’m sure this will be a well-used resource for many years to come.”

To contact Caerphilly registrars, email: registrars@caerphilly.gov.uk or to use the new service visit caerphilly.gov.uk