England Church Records: Difference between revisions

===  Major Websites  ===

The table below includes mostly Anglican and some Nonconformist church records that are online at the following major genealogy sites: FamilySearch, Ancestry ($), FindMyPast ($), The Genealogist ($) and FreeReg. For each county these websites are ranked under the "Index Online" column according to their number of entries from largest to smallest (left to right).  

Ancestry, FindMyPast and TheGenealogist are all subscription websites, but can be viewed at Family History Centers (FHCs) and at many public libraries.  

A free account is required to access FamilySearch, and some of the images on their websites can only be viewed at FHCs or Affiliate Libraries.  

Note that records from the IGI are excluded. The IGI covers every county, see the section below for more details. 

 

Do not expect any of these collections to be complete.<br><br> 

Many years ago FamilySearch created a major index called the International Genealogical Index (IGI). It contained at the time, both indexed/extracted church register name entries as well as patron submitted names of their ancestors. The records extracted from church records cover only a small fraction of what is presently available in the current [https://www.familysearch.org/hr/search FamilySearch.org search page], which now renders the old IGI as an antequated data-file. No images are included as the IGI was designed to help genealogists find the right original records to pursue. Batch numbers are still used by FamilySearch (to track indexing), and a key website, [http://www.archersoftware.co.uk/igi/ Archersoftware], has created an online search utility for each batch number created by FamilySearch. In most cases, the information is about 3-4 years outdated, yet is quite helpful. Pick a British Isles country, then choose a county and parish to find links to batches for numerous England counties. Once you click on a batch number it interfaces with and takes you directly to the FamilySearch.org website's search engine with all indexed name entries for that batch. Note:  The old term IGI, as it currently exists at FamilySearch.org, no longer includes the valued parish register portion containing extracted/indexed data, and is now a misnomer. The old IGI's with its indexed christenings, baptisms, marriages (and some burials) were several years ago, separated and migrated into the current databases at the [https://www.familysearch.org/search Familysearch.org's search engine page.] The current "IGI" is merely a database containing 892 million entries which were considered to be less-reliable names-submissions to FamilySearch.org of decades past. The IGI (researcher submissions only), while less trustworthy, is still worth searching and for the same reason that searching Ancestry.com's Public Member Trees, or MyHeritage.com's FamilyTree, etc.  

There are two ways to access the IGI.  

# Go to the FamilySearch.org "search" page and click "Genealogies" at the top. Type the name of the ancestor and this search facility will return entries from the IGI submitted name entries (non-index/extracted entries), which there are 897 million entries 

# Search in the entire collection of IGI records for England. These are listed below:[https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1473014 England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975], index, incomplete. Also at [http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=9841 Ancestry.com], [http://www.myheritage.com/research/collection-30042/england-births-christenings-1538-1975?s=218489221 MyHeritage], ($)  

* [https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1473015 England Marriages, 1538–1973], index, incomplete. Also at [http://www.myheritage.com/research/collection-30043/england-marriages-1538%E2%80%931973?s=218489221 MyHeritage], ($), [http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=9852 Ancestry], ($), and  [http://search.findmypast.com/search-world-Records/england-marriages-1538-1973 findmypast], ($)

* [https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1770891 Great Britain Marriages, 1797-1988], index, incomplete . Also at [http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=9881 Ancestry] ($)

* [https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1473016 England Deaths and Burials, 1538-1991], index, incomplete. Also ar [http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=9840 Ancestry], ($), [http://search.findmypast.com/search-world-Records/england-deaths-and-burials-1538-1991 findmypast], ($), and [http://www.myheritage.com/research/collection-30044/england-deaths-burials-1538-1991?s=218489221 MyHeritage], ($)

* [https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1770890 Great Britain Deaths and Burials, 1778-1988], index, incomplete. Also at  [http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=9880 Ancestry], ($)

3. Another is to find the parish in the FamilySearch Catalog. Look under "church records" and find the religion, year and record type of interest. If an IGI or FamilySearch index is available for the parish, a magnifying glass symbol will appear. If a camera symbol also appears, the images are also accessible from any computer. A camera symbol with a key indicates the image is only accessible from a FHC or Affiliate Library. A microfilm symbol means that the images are not yet available online, and can only be viewed on microfilm at the FHL in Salt Lake City.