Ideally one should send off for birth, marriage and death certificates to verify information, but as these cost upwards of £7 a piece it can get pretty expensive very quickly.
Civil registration began September quarter 1837, before that date there were no certificates. Even after 1837 many people were not registered. Some believed baptism was the same as registration and the process was not enforced until 1870s.
Information on the internet is known as "finding aids", one is suppose to verify the information by tracking down the source and consulting the original images. This can be tricky.
Baptisms can be used to back up birth certificates - if you can find the right church. However not all parish records have survived, you have to find where you can view them. And I must admit that I find it difficult to read them, mainly because you do not get to handle the original registers rather filmed copies of them.
Marriage certificates are exactly the same as you send off for after 1837, again if you can find the parish register. The exception being where the Registrar attended - I haven't worked that one out yet. When you go back in time parent details were not given.
Burial details in the parish registers can be used. I have found these the least useful.
What I try to do is match up the index of the civil registrations to church records. Of course, that involves a lot of guesswork. I will try to explain my reasoning as I go on.
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1840 - 1901
This is my favorite period because we have another source of information - the census.
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