England Church Records

Neil D. Holden

Many church records in England begin in the year 1538, when the Anglican Church was established. Various church registers have been lost or destroyed over the years. Many parish registers over the years also contain gaps, which can be explained by events such as the English Civil War. However, extensive church records are available for a majority of parishes in England. In cases where the original parish registers were lost, it is quite possible there exists bishop's transcripts - a second copy of the original parish registers. Church records usually include baptism, marriages and burials, but often include various other records valuable to researchers, such as settlement papers, bastardy bonds and churchwarden accounts. Church records are the most valuable research tool available for pre-Victorian research.

Many people in England did not conform to the established church, and the result is that a large number of church records are available for a variety of denominations. These denominations include Methodists, Presbyterians, Baptists, Quakers, Catholics and Jews. You may well find your ancestors in the records of more than one church over the course of their lives. Until 1837, all marriages had to be conducted within the Church of England, with the exception of Jews and Quakers. Many of us will find our ancestors getting married in the Anglican Church and subsequently baptizing their children in the Methodist or Presbyterian churches. Conformity to these churches varied around the country.

The transcription of church records has not moved at the same speed as that of civil or census records, but there is still a large body of data available online. We recommend the following links:

• Boyd’s Marriage Index, 1538-1840
• Marriage Licence Allegations Index, 1694-1850
• National Burial Index
• Gretna Green Marriages, 1795-1895
• FreeREG Project (Church Register Index)
• GENUKI Parish Database (Parish locater)

The vast majority of church records are not available online in their original form. This is where ProGenealogists can help. We are located just a few blocks from the world famous Family History Library, which houses many millions of pages of original parish registers in microfilm form. If you have reached a crossroads in your research, and you feel you need professional assistance, ProGenealogists is there to help. Please click here for a free estimate.