Information About Baptism Records in the UK

Baptism records were maintained by the church and were records of christenings conducted in the church.  A christening was carried out in order to accept the person involved into the family of the church.  

It should be remembered that a christening date is not the same as a birth date, and is usually conducted later, unless there is a specific reason for a baptism to be on the same day as the child’s birth, such as their ill health.  

You sometimes see private baptisms in church records, which again could have meant the child was suffering from ill health, and in many cases not expected to survive.  

You may also find that some people were baptised as adults, so unfortunately you may never discover the names of their parents unless you search in other records such as marriage records or wills.

Do Churches Keep Records of Baptisms?

Most churches keep records of baptisms in baptism registers, which are either held by the church if they are still in use or made available to access in Record Offices.  Many baptism registers have now been digitised in some form and so are therefore available online.

If you are searching in earlier parish registers you will find that up until 1813, no separate baptism register was kept for the recording of baptisms, with baptisms, marriages and burials all recorded in the same volume.

Why Did Churches Keep Records of Baptisms?

Churches kept records of baptisms to ensure that those receiving communion were eligible to receive the sacraments.  Before the advent of civil registration in 1837, a baptism record was used as a birth record, providing a record of parentage and, in some cases, a date of birth.  Whether a date of birth was mentioned depended solely on the clergyman entering the baptism into the record.  

Baptism records were also used by the church to determine that those wishing to marry each other were not related, thus allowing the ceremony to take place.

Baptism Records Before 1813

Although Thomas Cromwell declared that parish registers had to be kept from 1538, very few parish registers are available from that date.  Baptism records from that time, if the records exist, contain less information than those from later years when a separate baptism register book was used.  

It was not uncommon for earlier baptism records to only state the infant’s name, the baptism date and the father’s name.  No mother’s name was often entered in a baptism register because the mother was considered unimportant.

Some baptism records were written in Latin in earlier centuries.  The baptism register for Nether Heyford, Northamptonshire, was written in Latin until 1653.  You can find more information about Latin words and phrases in my Parish Registers page.

In later registers the mother’s name began to be recorded, and sometimes the child’s birth date. In certain baptism records from the late 1700’s the mother’s maiden name was included in the entry, which can help you to track down the parent’s marriage.  I have found from my own research that the mother’s maiden name was included in many baptism registers from Suffolk.

The information recorded could vary between parishes however. Some vicars stated the infant’s grandfather’s name and you may find more than one child of the same parents were baptised together even though they did not necessarily share a birthday. This was possibly because they could not afford to have each child baptised separately.  

Dade and Barrington Registers

William Dade, a Yorkshire clergyman in the 18th century, believed as much information as possible should be included when entering baptisms into the baptism records.  Becoming known today as Dade’s Registers, they contained the following information:

• Child’s Name
• Seniority of the Child: whether first born etc
• Father’s Name
• Profession of the Father
• Place of Abode
• Names, professions and abodes of father’s parents
• Mother’s Name
• Mother’s Profession if she had one
• Names, professions and abodes of mother’s parents
• Child’s date of birth and baptism

Clergymen of the time did not like the amount of extra work involved in compiling these records, especially if the church was located in a densely populated area, so this kind of recording did not carry on for long.  It Is great for genealogists like us who are looking at these records today, though.

Illegitimacy in Baptism Records

If no father is named, it is possible the child was illegitimate, this being shown by the terms base born, illegitimate etc.  Sometimes a vicar wrote the word bastard in big letters after the child’s name. This was to signify his displeasure at this circumstance.

Occupations Noted in Baptism Records

Some vicars noted the occupation of the child’s father, and if a particular surname is common in a village, this could help you determine whether you have found the right family.  As you can see from the extract below, Hensman was a very common name in Ecton.

Baptism Records After 1813

After George Rose’s Act of 1813, the Church was required to keep separate books of baptisms, marriages and burials. This section deals with the baptism register.

The baptism register gave the opportunity to record baptisms in much more detail than the older parish registers, as there were separate columns across the page to enter the child’s name, the parent’s names and the father’s occupation.

The family’s abode was also recorded. In towns and cities, a street name was sometimes entered for the address, but it might not include the house number. In villages only the village name was usually entered.

In some cases, the birthdate was also recorded, and you may find more than one child of the same parents were christened together.

There was also a column where the name of the clergyman who performed the ceremony was recorded.

Information Recorded in the Baptism Register

• When baptised
• Child’s Christian name
• Names of both the mother and father and their surname
• Abode
• Quality, Trade or Profession
• By whom the ceremony was performed

As you will see from the extract above, my ancestor Herbert Dunkley was baptised with his siblings many years after he was actually born.  If you cannot find your ancestor’s baptism, try searching for a few years after his date of birth.

How Do I Find Baptism Records?

Many baptism records have been made available in record offices.  The first thing you need to find out is which record office holds the records you are interested in.  Once you have done that, you should contact them to ensure that they hold the registers for the time period you want to access.

Some baptism records have been made available online at Ancestry and FindmyPast.  I have created a list of which sites hold parish registers for each county of England and Wales.

England Baptism Records Available on Ancestry/FindmyPast

Wales Baptism Records Available on Ancestry/FindmyPast

As both Ancestry and FindmyPast only have partial collections of baptism records, it is prudent to check whether they have the records you are searching for before purchasing a subscription.  You can view the list of parishes available without purchasing a subscription, although you do have to register on the site first.

If you find that a parish you are researching borders two counties, or has changed counties such as that for Abingdon, which was in Oxfordshire but is now in Berkshire.  Another example is that of Warrington, which was in Lancashire but is now in Cheshire. 

You may find several instances where this occurred. It may, therefore, be prudent to check the lists of individual parishes on these websites to check which county’s records you should research to find the parish. 

Parish Registers Online for Free

You can also search baptism records online for free.  Dustydocs has links to websites that have records of baptisms.  It should be borne in mind that this resource is not yet complete as it is compiled mainly by volunteers, but more baptism records are being added all the time.

Some baptism registers have also been made available online at FreeReg, which is an online database compiled by volunteers.  This index is not yet complete, but more information is constantly being added.

International Genealogical Index – IGI

You can also search baptism records by using the IGI, which is the International Genealogical Index.  You can access the IGI at https://www.familysearch.org.  

The IGI, compiled by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, is a wonderful resource if you are unable to find a record of a baptism.  If I ever have a problem locating an entry in a baptism register, it is one of my first ports of call, and has helped me to track down that elusive ancestor on many occasions.  

More and more parish registers are constantly being added to the IGI, so if you are unable to find your ancestor in the index today, try again later.  You may find that your ancestor’s baptism record has been added to the index.

Once you have come to the home page of their website, clicking search and then records will lead you to the main search page where you will find that you can search by name, birth date or place or marriage date or place, and can even add further information if known, such as spouse or parents.

It also includes many Protestant nonconformist records that were deposited in the National Archives in 1837.

The IGI does not only include information from the UK, but all over the world, making it one of the best resources of its type.  Having said that, you should still view the original entry in the baptism register because that may contain much more information. 

The entry in the IGI only includes the name of the child and the parents, the place of baptism and the date. You may find, for instance, that the entry in the original register contains the maiden name of the mother.  This information is not usually included in the entry in the IGI.