Availability of Church Records

Parish Registers

1.      Many are on film and in printed form at Family History Library. Do a place search (England, County, parish name) in the Family History Library Catalog (FHLC) for holdings and to obtain film or book numbers.

2.      Most have been deposited at County Records Offices (CRO). These offices normally maintain a list of agents who make searches in these records. Addresses for these CRO's can be found in at the ARCHON web site. Consult the CRO web page and any printed guides to record offices, if available, before writing. The location of Church of England records is found in The Atlas and Index of Parish Registers (Phillimore's) edited by Cecil Humphrey-Smith, 2003.

3.      A few parish registers are still in local custody of ministers. Check Crockford's Clerical Directory for address.

Bishop's Transcripts (BTs)

1.      Some on film and in printed form at Family History Library. Check the FHLC for holdings and to obtain film or book numbers. The Library has filmed the BTs for all of Wales and most of England except Durham, Essex, Hertford, London and Northampton.

2.      Many still in diocesan or county record offices. These offices normally maintain a list of agents who will search their records. Addresses for these CRO's can be found on the ARCHON web site. Consult the GENUKI and ARCHON web pages as well as printed guides to record offices, if available, before writing.

Nonconformist Records

1.      Many of these records were turned into the Public Record Office, London. These records have been filmed and are available by consulting the FHLC. A good guide to these records can be found on microfilm number 924,800.

2.      Many of these records, especially Catholic and Jewish were not turned in. Some are on microfilm at the Family History Library. Others are still in local custody.

3.      See the Nonconformist Records handout for more information.

 

Marriage Indexes

Marriage indexes for many areas are at the Family History Library.  Although the process followed to search for marriages will vary according to the time period and place, the general rules are:

After 1 July 1837

Use Civil Registration. First, check FreeBMD. If not there, check civil registration indexes on film/fiche. If not located, consider writing to local registrar if circumstances allow. If all these fail, use pre-1837 procedures below (except Boyd’s marriage index).

Before 1 July 1837

While information you have may lead you to alter the order you want to search the various sources, this is the general rule:

1.      Search the International Genealogical Index (IGI)

2.      Search the British Vital Records Index (2nd edition)

3.      Search Boyd’s Marriage Index (note use of register to determine if locality of interest is included)

4.      Search Other indexes specific to the county or area (see examples, below). Use www.genuki.uk.org or Jeremy Gibson's, Marriage, Census, and Other Indexes for Family Historians, 6th ed., Federation of Family History Societies, 1996 (FHL British Book 942 D22m 1996).

5.      Search church record collections (see below) for your area of interest.

6.      Employ radius search technique for parish registers (use www.genuki.org.uk/big/parloc/search.html)

7.      Search marriage license indexes, particularly if what you know indicates a license may be likely (non-conformity, wealth or position, previous marriage…)

Selected samples are as follows:

1.      England General - Boyd's Marriage Index

2.      England, General (or specific) – International Genealogical Index

3.      England General (or specific) – British Vital Records Index

4.      Gloucestershire - Roe's Marriage Index

5.      Hertfordshire - Allen's Marriage Index

6.      Oxfordshire - Gibson's Marriage Index (FHL film #543,896 A-0) (#543,897 P-Z)

7.      Durham & Northampton - Online at GENUKI (see Genuki search page, enter name desired at http://www.genuki.org.uk/search/)

Marriage indexes for other areas are available in private hands. The Family History Library staff maintains an address list of the indexes which can be searched through the mail. GENUKI (www.genuki.org.uk) lists many online indexes.

Many church records have been indexed by volunteers of the Family History Library. The indexed material appears in the International Genealogical Index (IGI). For a list of those places included, see the Parish and Vital Records List available on microfiche. The IGI is on the Internet at http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/frameset_search.asp.

IMPORTANT – see http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~hughwallis/IGIBatchNumbers.htm#Page for ability to search IGI extractions by parish! 

 

Church Record Collections

Several individuals, past and present, have compiled indexes and transcripts for a number of church records. Some of these include:

Burchall Collection - Sussex                                                   Wagner Collection of Huguenot Pedigrees

Challen collection - Sussex                                                     Isham Longden Collection - Northampton

Owen Collection - Lancashire                                                Dwelly Manuscripts - Somerset

Bennett Collection - Cheshire                                                 Prattinson Collection - Worcester

Bloom Collection - Midlands                                                 Dale Collection - Cheshire     

Wessex Collection - Hampshire                                              Farrer Manuscripts - Lancashire         

Syke Collection - Yorkshire                                                    Ince Collection - Yorkshire

Isle of Wight card index to all christenings, marriages, and burials pre-1837

 

 

Sending For Record Searches

If records you need are not available in the U.S. or on the Internet, you must write to or email the record repository in England and ask someone to search the records for you. A member of the record office staff, the parish minister, or a record agent can help you. If the records you need are housed in a record office, the staff can advise you if you need to hire a record agent. If this is the case, they will usually send you a list of record agents in their area.

Keep your email short and to the point. The first time you write, ask for one item only, such as the christening information for an ancestor. Everyone is as busy as you are. A three-page rambling letter is less likely to be answered promptly.

If using postal mail, enclose an IRC or small amount of money. Note that US Checks are not accepted in Great Britain.

 

Return to Post-1700 summary.