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Church records are an excellent source for accurate information on names and dates and on places of births, marriages, and deaths. Many people who lived in India have information recorded about them in | Church records are an excellent source for accurate information on names and dates and on places of births, marriages, and deaths. Many people who lived in India who had British or European ancestry, married into or were adopted by British families, or who converted to Christianity, have information recorded about them in church records. About 80% of church records in British India are believed to have survived. Since civil authorities did not begin registering vital statistics until 1872, church records are the best source for family information before that date. | ||
The first step in researching European or Anglo-Indian ancestry in colonial India is to use the church records. For administrative purposes, colonial India was divided into three Presidencies, Bombay, Madras, and Bengal. Protestant and Catholic churches began to keep records in India in 1698 (Madras), 1709 (Bombay) and 1713 (Bengal). Each year, these records were transcribed and sent to the capital of the Presidency, where they were indexed. The records and indexes were then sent to headquarters in London. This practice ceased at Independence in 1947. Learn more about family history in the [http://indiafamily.bl.uk/UI/ India Office Records]. | The first step in researching European or Anglo-Indian ancestry in colonial India is to use the church records. For administrative purposes, colonial India was divided into three Presidencies, Bombay, Madras, and Bengal. Protestant and Catholic churches began to keep records in India in 1698 (Madras), 1709 (Bombay) and 1713 (Bengal). Each year, these records were transcribed and sent to the capital of the Presidency, where they were indexed. The records and indexes were then sent to headquarters in London. This practice ceased at Independence in 1947. Learn more about family history in the [http://indiafamily.bl.uk/UI/ India Office Records]. | ||