ENGLISH AND WELSH BAPTISM REGISTERS

Baptism registers are one of the key sources for family history, particularly if you are tracing ancestors who lived before the 1840s. Even to the present day, these records frequently prove essential to progressing your research.

Before the arrival of civil registration in England and Wales in 1837, it was the Church that was the sole authority for the recording of births, marriage and deaths – or, more correctly, baptisms, marriages and burials.

‘Note that place of birth and place of baptism were not always the same’

The search for family in parish registers often begins with information on place of birth collected from census returns. However, it should be noted that place of birth and place of baptism were not always the same. The first child (and sometimes subsequent children