THE subject of certificates for births, marriages and deaths may sound a boring topic - but John Newbold made it fascinating.

Mr Newbold is the Superintendent Registrar for Birmingham and he gave a summary of the duties of the 400 Register Offices throughout England and Wales since they were introduced in 1837.

Prior to that and going back to the early 1300s, any attempt to record births, to keep track of population numbers, to ensure legal marriages and to record deaths was thwarted by the various dogmas of church denominations, taxation needs of government and scarce resources of parishes. The result was chaotic to say the least.

And so unfolded the social scene of the times, with many examples of goings-on, some sad, some unbelievably stupid, some hilarious, including an amusing list of recorded causes of death.

Two modern-day misconceptions Mr Newbold wished everyone would bear in mind - the correct title of his workplace is a Register Office and Gretna Green is no longer available for quickie marriages.

Anyone interested in aspects of local history is invited to join the society's monthly meetings, which are held on Friday evenings.

Call secretary Val Lewis on 01564 822483 for details.