Where can I find parish registers?

Local and family history A-Z > Parish registers

For parish registers available online see the separate page Parish registers online, which guides you to sites that enable you to search transcribed records from many parish registers
Full sets of printed transcribed Bedfordshire registers up to 1812 are at Bedford Central, Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard libraries. Other libraries have parish registers for their local area and some have a selection of parish registers on microfiche. For details, see Parish registers at Bedford Borough and Central Bedfordshire libraries
For details of the extensive collection of local parish registers at the record office, see the Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Records Service web site. Click 'Genealogy' then 'Anglican parish registers'
Transcriptions of selected local and national parish records, mainly of baptisms and marriages, are included in the International Genealogical Index British Isles (IGI) which is available online. It is also available at some libraries on microfiche and at Dunstable Library also on CD-ROM
Transcriptions of selected local and national parish records, mainly of baptisms and marriages are also available on the Vital Records Index, British Isles
Transcriptions of selected parish records of burials are in the National Burial Index CD-ROM
The largest collection of parish register transcriptions and copies is at the Society of Genealogists in London. For details, see the Society of Genealogists web site and click 'County Sources in the Library'
The key reference work for locating original parish registers is The Phillimore atlas and index of parish registers. This includes a map of the UK showing the county boundaries before 1830, parish maps, and indexes listing the locations of original registers. The latest edition also includes the names of the registration districts covering each parish for the period 1837-1851
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Page last updated: 15th September 2011