Sierra Leone Civil Registration

Offices to Contact
Office of Chief Registrar Births and Deaths Office 3 Wilberforce Street Freetown Website: Civil registration and vital statistics systems


 * The office of the Registrar of Births and Deaths is a unit of the Ministry of Health and Sanitation and is responsible for vital registration. District Registrars are employees of local councils (local government) but are supervised by staff of the MoHS. Almost all of the 149 Chiefdoms have a Community Health Officer (an employee of MoHS) who registers births and deaths.

National Archives of Sierra Leone Fourah Bay College Mount Aureol Freetown Telephone: 232 22 227509 Email: [mailto:bert_moore90@hotmail.com bert_moore90@hotmail.com] Website: National Archives of Sierra Leone Website #2: Sierra Leone Public Archives


 * The Sierra Leone Public Archives include the holdings of the British colonial government and subsequently the independent Republic of Sierra Leone.

Some civil registration records for Sierre Leone are in the National Archives in London, England. The National Archives Kew, Richmond Surrey TW9 4DU England Telephone: +44 (0) 20 8876 3444 Contact form Internet: UK National Archives

However probably less than 2% of deaths are reported.

Historical Background
Time period: 1810-present.

Because eastern Sierra Leone was a protectorate and the western area was established as a colony, civil registration was not, on the whole, as complete in the early nineteenth century as in other British colonies.

Coverage and Compliance
Estimated coverage is 75% of the British and about 25% of the indigenous inhabitants before independence.

After independence coverage would average closer to 80% of the indigenous population.

Births
name of person date of birth names of parents father’s occupation and residence sometimes age of mother names of witnesses and their residence, occupations, and sometimes relationships

Marriages
names of candidates their places of residence date of marriage sometimes ages and names of sponsors

Deaths
name of deceased dates of death and burial age place of residence at the time of death occupation cause of death