IGI
IGI stands for International Genealogical Index. The IGI is an enormous database created and maintained by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints or LDS, also known as the Mormons. This page is not an official LDS page.
What is the IGI?
The Mormons have an extensive program to microfilm vast numbers of old records which are an aid to genealogy. For example, they microfilm records of churches of all denominations, ancient land tax records, military records, shipping lists, census records and so on. They make these microfilms available to all people, regardless of religion, and depending on your location, the microfilms can be viewed for free or for a small postage charge.
There are two ways an entry can be made into the IGI:
- When a parish record (of any denomination) is microfilmed, the LDS church extracts the names and details of all christenings and marriages. These appear on the IGI as Extracted Records and are highly accurate. The record will include the film number.
- Members of the LDS church submit their own information. These appear on the IGI as Submitted by LDS Member. These entries are of variable accuracy.
The IGI database has hundreds of millions of names on it. If you are new to genealogy, or if you are beginning to research a new family line, the IGI is a great place to start, but please bear in mind that it is not a complete coverage of all events, and that entries submitted by LDS members can sometimes be inaccurate.
India records
The Indian section of the IGI deals almost exclusively with Europeans and Anglo-Indians (Eurasians). In 1994, there were about 240,000 names for India. If you have a more up-to-date count, then please update this page.
You can view the Indian data online using the Advanced Search on the LDS’s Family Search website. Select country "India" (or Singapore etc) You can also search using the IGI Search. The data is almost, but not quite as extensive. Select region “Asia”. Then select country “India” or "All countries" for a wider area including countries such as Singapore, Malaysia etc. There is a facility to add batch numbers, see below.
The Family Search website also includes a Record Search Pilot, which is a pilot project to access online images of data. Currently (June 2010) it contains the data mentioned in the following paragraph, but this may change in the future.
Recent Changes 28 April 2010
Family Search has placed new records on a beta ("under construction") website, fsbeta.FamilySearch.org. However, India related records can be researched directly at India Births and Baptisms, 1786-c 1910 India Marriages, 1792-c 1935 India Deaths and Burials, 1719-1948
The original website FamilySearch continues and in time the two sites will be merged into the new site.
Although the LDS website description of these new records states they are “digital copies of originals housed in various repositories throughout India”, it is believed that they are in fact based on the India Office church records at the British Library. Please note that on an individual basis the LDS record does not show all the details available on the original. Also not every India Office church record is recorded in the LDS database. There appear to be no records shown for dates of birth after January-March 1910, or marriages after January-March 1935. Death records are available to 1948. Some of the records contain the description Race:White. This should be disregarded as it is a fabrication as the original IOR church records do not contain a classification for race at all. (The few records that do have a classifation for race use the terminology European not white).
In addition, the Family Search website contains the LDS Library Catalogue for all the LDS microfilms, as does the new beta site. Currently June 2010, the catalogue on the beta website has some problems, and it is better to use the original website for the Library Catalogue.
You can view all online data at Family History Centres (FHC) if you do not otherwise have online access. You may need to book a computer at the FHC.
Using LDS microfilms
Note that some films have been transcribed by LDS. To read how LDS batch numbers can help you search ,and to help you to cut down needlessly searching elsewhere, refer to India Office Ecclesiastical Returns Microfilm Numbers and the LDS equivalent
Instructions on how to use the microfilmed copies of the Ecclesiatical Returns and their indexes at an LDS Family History Centre.
A list of all the microfilm numbers for the LDS copies of Bengal church records.
A list of all the microfilm numbers for the LDS copies of Madras church records.
A list of all the microfilm numbers for the LDS copies of Bombay church records.
A list of microfilm numbers of registers from churches throughout India, except the Portuguese colony of Goa. These are records which are not covered by the APAC holdings. The majority are Roman Catholic churches but also included are records from the Church of Scotland in Bombay, together with some Syrian and Armenian churches and a few miscellaneous entries.
A list of microfilm numbers of registers from churches in the former Portuguese colony of Goa
Lists of microfilms of European church records in India that do not fall under the usual three Presidencies. These include Native States, some Catholic records and post-Independence church records.
