Church of England

Anglican Sources for Tracing your Family History

Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials pre-1837 and Wills pre-1858

Prior to 1837 there was no central registration of births, marriages and deaths. Therefore the records of baptisms, marriages and burials held in parish registers are the main source of information for establishing births, marriages and deaths during this period. Parish registers are usually held in local or county record offices but collections are not always complete and in some cases registers are still held by parishes. Bishops transcripts contain copies of information held in parish registers and are also often held in local or county record offices, or occasionally in specialist repositories.