[Jan van den Berghe]

General Register Office or General Registry Office (GRO) is the name given to the civil registry in England and Wales, Scotland, many other Commonwealth nations and Ireland. The GRO is or was the government agency responsible for the recording of vital records such as births, deaths, and marriages (or BDM), which may also include adoptions, stillbirths, civil unions, etc., and historically, sometimes included records relating to deeds and other property transactions.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Register_Office