Channel Islands Civil Registration
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How to Find the Records
Online Collections
- 1638-1838 Transcripts of the digest copy of the registers of births, marriages and burials, 1638-1838 Society of Friends
- 1787-1933 United Kingdom, Maritime Births, Marriages, and Deaths, 1787-1933, index.
- 1820-1907 Channel Islands Births and Baptisms, 1820-1907, index, incomplete.
- 1820-1907 Channel Islands, Select Births and Baptisms, 1820-1907, index, incomplete ($).
- 1820-1907 Channel Islands Births & Baptisms, 1820-1907, index, incomplete ($).
- 1820-1907 Channel Islands, Births and Baptisms, 1820-1907, index, incomplete ($)
- The Island Wiki, birth/baptism, marriage and death/burials records database, index, complete.
Offices to Contact
Priaulx Library
Candie Road
St Peter Port
Guernsey
GY1 1UG
Telephone: +44 1481 721998
The Priaulx Library also has the indexes on microfilm and incomplete microfilmed sets of Civil Registration records.
See A guide to Civil and Parish Registers and Census records at the Priaulx Library.
The Channel Islands Family History Society can give additional information on how to access the records.
For the addresses of the government Offices, see Locating the Records below.
Historical Background
"Channel Islands" is a geographical term, not a political unit. The islands "...include two Crown dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, which is the largest of the islands; and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, consisting of Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, Herm and some smaller islands."[1]
Coverage and Compliance
Information Recorded in the Records
Birth Records
A birth certificate usually gives:
- birth date and birthplace
- child’s name and sex
- father's name and occupation
- mother's full name including her maiden name
- informant’s name, relationship to the baby, and residence
- when registered and the name of the registrar
Marriage Records
A marriage certificate gives:
- marriage data and place
- names of the bride and groom, their ages, their marital "condition" (single or widowed), their professions, and their residences at the time of the marriage
- names and occupations of their fathers (and often whether they were deceased)
- signatures or marks of the bride, groom, and witnesses
- also notes whether the bride and groom were married in a church (with the denomination given) and, if so, whether they were married by banns or by license.
The law required all marriages to be recorded in a civil register immediately after the ceremony. Marriages were often performed at the bride’s parish
Death Records
A death certificate usually gives:
- death date and place
- full name of the decedent, their sex and age, their occupation (or for a child, usually the name of a parent)
- cause of death
- name, residence and relationship of the informant to the decedent
- date registered and the name of the registrar.
On certificates for adults, the names of parents are never given. In considering whether to order a death certificate, remember that the information on the certificate may be limited or inaccurate because it is based on the informant’s knowledge.
Locating the Records
Jersey
The Superintendent Registrar
Address:
10 Royal Square
St Helier
Jersey JE2 4WA
Tel: +44 (0) 1534 441335
The official records of Births, Marriages and Deaths of all twelve parishes in Jersey commenced in August 1842. The Superintendent Registrar holds copies of these. Indexes of these registers are also available at the Société Jersiaise and the Jersey Archive.
There are two sets of civil records: the records created by each parish and a copy held by the Superintendent Registrar. When civil registration began, the parish registers became civil registers, and the civil registers continued to be maintained by the parish.[2]
Guernsey
HM Greffier (Registrar General)
The Royal Court House
St Peter Port, GY1 2NZ
Telephone: +44 (0) 1481 225277
Email: registrar@guernseyroyalcourt.gg
Note: Guernsey Marriages were not subject to Civil Registration until 1919 - so the coverage is incomplete prior to that date. Go to the Parish Registers. Gap 1875-1907 instead.
FS Library 942.D27gih "Marriage and Census Indexes for Family History Historians." Contains entries of where to find marriage registers in Channel Islands and all United Kingdom. Available only at Salt Lake FamilySearch Library.
Vital Records Index British Isles, including Channel Islands from 1538-1888 on CD. Available at many FamilySearch Centers and Genealogy Societies. The Civil registration death records for Guernsey give parents names including mother's maiden name. They have been filmed and are available at the FamilySearch Library. There are two ways to search by the indexes or by the actual entries which means scrolling through the films.
Alderney
Births, Deaths from 1850, Marriages from 1886
The Greffier, Registry for Births, Deaths, Companies, Land and Marriages, St Anne, Alderney GY9 3AA is custodian.
Births from 1850 - missing May 1871-Dec. 1874.
There is a hand-ruled book of declarations, from August 1850 to December 1874, that can be used to fill this gap.
Deaths from August 1850-1855, 1907 onwards. Hand-ruled book of declarations from October 1855 to December 1874.
Gap 1875-1907.
Marriages from 1886 (from St Anne's Church). 1891 onwards from elsewhere on the Island.
In Guernsey
Births, Deaths and Marriages from 1925 to date only.
Alderney Greffe Records
Births July 1850-July1857, July 1857-July1860, July 1860-August 1885.
Deaths 1850-1866, 1907-1925.
Sark
Birth, Death and Marraiges records from 1925 are at:
The Greffe, Sark
La Chasse Marette
Sark
Channel Islands
GY10 1SF
Telephone: 01481 832 012
Email: greffier@gov.sark.gg
HM Greffier
The Royal Court House
St Peter Port
Channel Islands
GY1 2NZ
Telephone: 01481 225277
Email: hmgreffier@guernseyroyalcourt.gg
References
- ↑ Wikipedia contributors, Channel Islands, (accessed 25 November 2020).
- ↑ "A guide to Civil and Parish Registers and Census records at the Priaulx Library." Priaulx Library. Accessed 16 January 2019. https://www.priaulxlibrary.co.uk/sites/default/files/uploads/pdfs/Using%20family%20history%20records%20booklet.pdf.