Jewish and Birth, marriage and death records: Difference between pages

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These ‘Vital Records’ include not only '''Births, Marriages and Deaths''' but more particularly in India, '''Baptisms/Christenings, Marriages and Burials'''. There was some registration of Births and Deaths in British India commencing in 1864 in Calcutta  but generally it was voluntary.
There were three main communities of Jews in India : the Bene Israel (near Bombay), the "Black Jews" of Cochin and the "White Jews" from Iraq. The Virtual Jewish History Tour has a summary of the [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/indians.html History of Jews in India online].


General information about Jewish genealogy can be found at [http://www.jewishgen.org/infofiles/ JewishGen InfoFiles], which has a host of links providing guidance on researching Jewish family history throughout the world.  
There are a number of sources for locating birth, marriage or death information. This article provides an overview of these. See the links to the main article for each source for more in depth information.


== Religious Records ==
Also consider the following:
If your ancestors were baptised, married or buried in a European church in British India, then the [[church records]] should have been transcribed and you can access these records at the [[British Library]] in London, or at [[LDS]] [[Family History Centres]]. The FIBIS database contains many transcribed BMD records.


If your ancestors were married in a [[Registrar marriages|Registry Office]], then these records will be included with the church record indexes. However, the full details of Registry Office marriages are not available on microfilm through the [[LDS]], so if you find an index reference to a Registry Office marriage, you will need to visit the British Library, or have someone visit there on your behalf. FIBIS volunteers have transcribed the Registry Office index and this is on the [http://www.search.fibis.org/frontis/bin/aps_browse_sources.php?mode=browse_components&id=4&s_id=102 FIBIS database].
* a person may have been baptised with a certain Christian name, but been known by a completely different name, either for their whole life, or for various periods.  
* a second marriage may be bigamous
* the birth mother may not be correctly stated in a baptismal record.
* a person who had been widowed may be described as a Bachelor/Spinster on a 2nd marriage record


Some records of the births of Jewish people were included in the [[church records]] for the Bombay Presidency. It would seem that Jewish parents submitted a letter from their Rabbi or other figure of authority certifying that the individual was born on a certain day at a certain place. These letters were then included with the regular church records. Later, this 'registration' could then be used as proof of British citizenship. This does not seem to have been a very widespread practice. However, if you are at a loss to find a record of your ancestor, it may be worth examining the indexes to the [[church records]] of the Presidency in which they resided.
==FIBIS resources==
* [https://search.fibis.org/frontis/bin/aps_browse_sources.php?mode=class_detail&source_class=277 Births Outside India]
* [https://search.fibis.org/frontis/bin/aps_browse_sources.php?mode=class_detail&source_class=241 Ministers and missionaries]  
* [https://search.fibis.org/frontis/bin/aps_browse_sources.php?mode=browse_components&id=964&s_id=0 Mixed Original Records] provided by Malcolm Speirs
* [https://search.fibis.org/frontis/bin/aps_browse_sources.php?mode=class_detail&source_class=3 Deaths and burials]
** Bengal burial records
** Bombay burial records
** Burials Outside India
** Chandernagore Civil Death Registration Index
** Madras burial records  
* [https://search.fibis.org/frontis/bin/aps_browse_sources.php?mode=class_detail&source_class=1 Marriages]
** Bengal Marriages
** Bombay Marriages
** Chandernagore Civil Marriage Index
** Madras Marriages
** Marriages outside India
** Registry Office Marriage Indexes
** St Helena Banns of Marriage
* [https://search.fibis.org/frontis/bin/aps_browse_sources.php?mode=class_detail&source_class=2 Baptisms]
** Baptisms Outside India
** Bengal Baptisms
** Bombay Baptisms
** Chandernagore Civil Birth Registration Index
** Madras Baptisms
* [https://search.fibis.org/frontis/bin/aps_browse_sources.php?mode=list_sources&source_class=103 Births, Marriages and deaths announced in Newspapers and periodicals]


Also see [[Jewish#External Links|External Links below]] for some record references
== Ecclesiastical records ==
'''Main article: [[Church records]]'''
===(‘N’ Series in the India Office Records)===


== Names ==
The [[East India Company]] established and paid for Anglican dioceses and parishes in all areas as they came under its control. Each  chaplain/parish minister was required to establish registers in which to record BMDs. In addition, he had to send duplicates to the presidency ecclesiastical authorities. The latter have been collated and sent to London and are now in the care of the [[India Office Records]] at the [[British Library]] in their Asian & African Studies Reading Room. Ministers, priests and missionaries who were not employed by the East India Company were not obliged to send these returns, however some did so on a voluntary basis but these records are available to a lesser extent.
Common Jewish surnames in India include Sassoon and Joseph. Since many Indian Jews were of Baghdadi origin, other surnames tend to be of the Shephardic style. It is rare to hear of Ashkenazi surnames in India. Other surnames include biblical names.  


== Directories ==
Microfilmed copies of all the records are available for public inspection and indexes are available on the open shelves of the APAC, broken down by Presidency, alphabetically and by year.
Many European, Anglo-Indian and other businessmen were named in the [[Directories]] of their day. The most prominent Directory was Thacker's, which originally only covered Bengal, but eventually encompassed all of British India. If your Jewish ancestors were merchants or businessmen, there is a good chance that they would have been listed in Thacker's Directories. A complete set is now housed at the Asian & African Studies Reading Room at the British Library, but most major libraries will hold a few copies for given years. For a comprehensive description, and lists of where they can be located, visit the informative [http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~poyntz/India/directories.html Thacker's Directories webpage]. Some Thacker's Directories are available online, refer [[Directories online#Thackers's Indian Directory|Directories online-Thackers's Indian Directory]].


== Books ==
The N series contains Anglican and some Catholic and Non-Conformist records.
The following books related to Jews in India are currently available :


'''Who Are the Jews of India '''
'''The majority of these records have been  digitised and are available online through the commercial site [http://www.awin1.com/awclick.php?mid=2114&id=201071 findmypast]'''. If record is not found one should continue the search amongst the India Office records at the British Library. Also, be aware that the digital images are restricted for privacy purposes and a limited transcription only is available, currently (January 2020) as follows: '''There are no digital images for baptisms after 1919, nor for marriages after 1934'''.
By Nathan Katz. Publication date November 2000. Of all the Diaspora communities, the Jews of India are among the least known and most interesting. This readable study, full of vivid details of everyday life, looks in depth at the religious life of the Jewish community in Cochin, the Bene Israel from the remote Konkan coast near Bombay, and the Baghdadi Jews, who migrated to Indian port cities and flourished under the British Raj.  


'''Ruby of Cochin : An Indian Jewish Woman Remembers'''  
== Registrar Marriages ==
By Ruby Daniel. The autobiography of a Jewish woman from Cochin.
'''Main article: [[Registrar marriages]]'''


'''The Jewish Communities of India : Identity in a Colonial Era'''
Marriages conducted by the Registrar, which commenced in 1852, are included in the India Office ‘N’ series (N/11). A complete transcription of the indexes to these records is included in the [http://www.search.fibis.org/frontis/bin/aps_browse_sources.php?mode=list_sources&source_class=102 FIBIS Search] section of this website.
By Joan G. Roland. [http://books.google.com/books?id=kHJccZ92IecC&pg=PP1 Preview Google Books] This [http://www.pace.edu/dyson/academic-departments-and-programs/history/faculty/joan-roland link] is about the author.


'''Bene Israel of India : Some Studies'''
The Registrar Marriages records are  included in the digitised records available on the commercial site findmypast
By Benjamin J. Israel. Ranges over the history, religious evolution, some social and deomographic aspects of the life of the community.


'''India's Bene Israel : A Comprehensive Inquiry and Sourcebook'''
The LDS have not filmed these records.
By Shirley Berry Isenberg.  


'''The Sephardic Table : The Vibrant Cooking of the Mediterranean Jews-A Personal Collection of Recipes from the Middle East, North Africa and India'''
==Records on the LDS Family Search website==
By Pamela Grau Twena. From her Iraqi husband's extended family, Pamela Grau Twena coaxed out recipes that had been passed through generations but never written down. The result is an inviting collection of more than 125 Sephardic Jewish favorites for everyday meals, Sabbath suppers, and holidays. These inspired kosher recipes will appeal to all food lovers.
'''Main article: [[IGI]]'''


The [[British Library]] has the following books
The [[LDS]] maintained International Genealogical Index is a huge database of genealogical information. The IGI contains several hundred thousand birth and marriage entries for the British India period, data input from the ecclesiastical record microfilms. Those from the ecclesiastical records provide reference numbers so that the microfilms may be viewed at LDS [[Family History Centres]].
*'''Jews of the Raj''' by Mavis Hyman 1995 includes bibliographical references and index. Available from the [http://www.miriam-hyman.com/books.html author] , as is  the book ''Indian Jewish Cooking''.  
*'''Turning Back the Pages : A Chronicle of Calcutta Jewry''' by  Esmond David Erza 1986


== External Links ==
Details of other microfilms from the LDS Library Catalogue in respect of Church registers in India are also included.
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baghdadi_Jews Baghdadi Jews] Wikipedia
 
*[http://haruth.com/AsianIndia.html Jewish India] is a comprehensive website with a wealth of links to sites related to the Jewish communities of India.
== ‘Domestic Occurrences’ in registers, almanacs and newspapers ==
*[http://www.iajgsjewishcemeteryproject.org/india/index.html International Jewish Cemetery Project:India]
'''Main article: [[Domestic Occurrences]]'''
*[http://www.indianjews.org/english      Indian Jewish Heritage Center] Israel including
 
**[http://www.indianjews.org/english/?page_id=192 Kolkata (Calcutta) Jewish Cemetery]
'Domestic Occurrences' was a section found in many periodical publications detailing birth, marriage and death announcements. It is easy to search these records in the digitized versions of journals and directories that are available online. FIBIS has a wealth of transcribed resources.
***[http://www.indianjews.org/english/?page_id=204 Online Burial Records]
 
*[http://sephardiclibrary.org/genealogy.html Online records from Rangoon and Calcutta Grave records]  from the National Sephardic Library (Genealogy) of the [http://www.americansephardifederation.org/ American Sephardi Federation]. Records are in pdf format and are searchable.
==Records at The National Archives==
*From the catalogue of the [http://search.cjh.org:1701/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do?menuitem=0&fromTop=true&fromPreferences=false&fromEshelf=false&vid=beta Centre for Jewish History], New York and available through the American Sephardi Federation:
'''Main article: [[General Register Office]]'''
**Birth Register Book: Musmeah Yeshua Synagogue Rangoon. Published 1979 In English, available from  1896. In Hebrew, available from 1888
 
**Death Register Book: Musmeah Yeshua Synagogue Rangoon. Published 1979. Available from  1888. In Hebrew with Sephardi Script.
[[The National Archives]] hold some records that may be useful in tracing a BMD outside of the United Kingdom.  For more help see TNA’s brief guide [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/gettingstarted/looking-for-person/bmdatseaorabroad.htm "Looking for records of a birth, marriage or death of a British national at sea or abroad"] or the books ''Tracing Your Ancestors in The National Archives'' by Amanda Bevan (7th edn, National Archives Kew, 2006), including chapter 8, "Births, marriages and deaths of Britons overseas or in the armed services" and ''The British Overseas, A Guide to Records of Their Births, Baptisms, Marriages, Deaths and Burials Available in the United Kingdom'' by Geoffrey Yeo (London, 3rd edition 1995).
*[http://www.jewsofindia.org Jews of India] is the website of the  Indian Jewish Congregation of USA.  Its newsletters may be read online, some contain details of people born in India. There is a page [http://www.jewsofindia.org/genealogy.html Genealogy of the Bene-Israel Community], one of the communities in Bombay.  There is mention of  the foundation in India called the Bene Israel Heritage Museum and Genealogical Research Center, Mumbai, which is detailed in the article [http://genblog.myheritage.com/2010/02/india-a-remarkable-community-p/ India: A remarkable community project] (Genblog.myheritage.com) Its address appears to be 5 Purnima, 20 Nepean Sea Road Mumbai 400036 and the contact email address <nowiki>beneisraely@yahoo.com</nowiki>
 
*[http://www.jacobsassoon.org/synagogues.html Baghdadi Jewish Synagogues in Bombay and Poona] with current [http://www.jacobsassoon.org/contact-us.html contact details]. Some Synagogues are still ongoing. jacobsassoon.org
There is reference in the main article to some other sources of overseas records such as the London Metropolitan Archives.
*Details of [http://britishlibrary.typepad.co.uk/asian-and-african/2013/06/a-judeo-arabic-serial-issued-in-bombay.html  ''The Hebrew Gazette''] , a magazine issued in Bombay 1856 to 1866. "The language used throughout is the Judeo-Arabic dialect of the Baghdadi Jews penned in their distinctive Hebrew cursive script... Each issue imparts a wealth of information, ranging from general news such as the movement of ships in and out of Bombay harbour, to notices relating to the local Baghdadi Jewish community, such as for example weddings and philanthropic acts". Available at the [[British Library]]. British Library Asian and African studies blog (Hebrew and Christian Orient Studies) dated 06 June 2013
 
*''Nehardea, Journal of the [http://www.babylonjewry.org.il/new/english/index.html Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center'']:
==BMDs at sea==
**[http://www.babylonjewry.org.il/new/english/nehardea/nehar10.htm Issue No. 10, 1997] contains the articles
'''Main article: [[Births, marriages and deaths at sea]]'''
***[http://www.babylonjewry.org.il/new/english/nehardea/10/m1.htm "The Baghdadi Synagogues in Bombay and Poona"]
 
***[http://www.babylonjewry.org.il/new/english/nehardea/10/m2.htm The Jewish Community in Shanghai], which states that the Sassoon family began trading with the Far East and then trained young men of their community in Bombay to be sent as clerks to work for the Sassoon firm in Shanghai.  
==British Army==
**[http://www.babylonjewry.org.il/new/english/nehardea/nehar16.htm Issue No. 16, Spring  2008]: [http://www.babylonjewry.org.il/new/english/nehardea/16/44.htm Dr. R. Fredman-Cernea talks about her book ''Almost Englishmen: Baghdadi Jews in British Burma''].
[[British Army#Ecclesiastical returns|British Army Ecclesiastical returns]] and [[Chaplains Returns]] detail sources other than the N series for India BMDs pertaining to British Army soldiers and their families.
*[http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/baghdadi-jewish-women-in-india "Baghdadi Jewish Women in India."] by Joan G. Roland and Tamar Marge Gubbay, ''Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia'' 1 March 2009.
 
*[http://asiasociety.org/countries/religions-philosophies/jael-silliman-bringing-indias-jews-light?page=0%252C1&order=DESC Jael Silliman: Bringing India's Jews to Light] Asiasociety.org. Mainly about the Baghdadi Jewish community
==Birth and death registration==
* Ted Margulis’ [http://jewishwebindex.com/jewish_orient.htm Jewish Web index, category Jewish Orient] includes subcategories Burma, India and Singapore
'''Main article: [[Birth and death registration]]'''
*[http://www.joyfulnoise.net/JoyChina51.html Jewish China and Jewish Asia Resources on the Web Compiled by Joy Katzen-Guthrie]
 
*[http://jewishmag.com/162mag/jews_of_india/jews_of_india.htm "In Search of the (happy) Jewish Story – in India"] by Irene Shaland February 2012 jewishmag.com.  
Some birth and death registration did occur in British India.  It commenced in the 1860s but was only compulsory in some  areas, with other places adopting voluntary registration. The records are obtained from  local Municipal Corporations, therefore researchers must know where a birth  occurred. Some people born in India pre 1947 have copies of their birth registration. Recent copies are known to have been obtained from the Shimla Municipal Corporation following a visit there,  but it is not known whether these documents are generally available, or how far back existing records go.
** One of the references quoted is ''Jewish exile in India, 1933-1945'' , edited by Anil Bhatti, Johannes H. Voight, published 1999 New Delhi. Available at the [[British Library]], where the catalogue entry says "Papers presented at a symposium held at New Delhi during 15-16 March, 1995. Includes bibliographical references".
 
*[http://hinduunity.org/jewsofindia.html Jews of India]  hinduunity.org
==See also==
*[http://www.sefarad.org/publication/lm/041/5.html "The Portuguese Jewish Community Of Madras, India, In The Seventeenth Century"] from ''Los Muestros'' numéro 41, Décembre 2000  Sefarad.org
*[[Cemeteries]], including
*"The Jewish Merchant-Colony in Madras (Fort St. George) during the 17th and 18th Centuries: A Contribution to the Economic and Social History of the Jews in India" by Walter J. Fischel ''Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, Vol. 3, No. 1 (Apr., 1960)'', pp. 78-107 and ''Vol. 3, No. 2 (Aug., 1960)'', pp. 175-195 may be read online on the subscription website JSTOR. Some card holders of participating libraries  may have access, refer [[Miscellaneous tips]]. Also available at the [[British Library]]
**[[British Association for Cemeteries in South Asia]]. The BACSA website now has a search facility for the indexes to its cemetery books (work in progress) These indexes are free to search and browse, a charge applies for the record.
*[http://www.jewishtimes-sj.com/news/2012-10-19/Columns/Jews_and_Jewish_Communities_in_India.html?print=1 Jews and Jewish Communities in India] 2012-10-19 www.jewishtimes-sj.com. Reporting a lecture by Kenneth X. Robbins
*[[Adoption]]
**[https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:dmFImrvP1H0J:wwwuser.gwdg.de/~jkeune/msg/documents/RobbinsPLFeb2012.pdf+Balachadi+Kenneth+Robbins&hl=en&gl=au&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESgyOjAu9oRwkmII5U-Qv6Cp05Z6lJ8KiJ-eF1m6E0s3cj5OXo5RiMU4dYhG1PoUHGnXPKHt1nY9str0NBkV0z-vTzuD_py0V6iFYS5ToQHxb7sCxEFbwIGZer2ROahw6VdK6YZ0&sig=AHIEtbQWwT4GY24_ZYdIyjCxbvsxAM6Kuw  List of books and articles by Kenneth X. Robbins, including those in respect of Jews in India]
*[[Divorce]]
** Catalogue entry at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum [http://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn502298 Kenneth X. Robbins collection] Documents illustrate that there were at least some Jews among the Polish camps at Valivade in Kohlapur state and Balachadi in Nawanagar state. Also see [[Polish Refugees in India 1942-1948]]
*[[Newspapers]]
*[http://www.jta.org/news/article/2012/06/27/3099346/seeking-kin-a-maharajah-comes-to-the-rescue  Seeking Kin: A maharajah comes to the rescue] by Hillel Kuttler  June 27, 2012. www.jta.org.  Also see [[Polish Refugees in India 1942-1948]]
*[[Society of Genealogists]]
*[http://www.jcpa.org/dje/articles2/india.htm "The Jewish Community of India"] by Daniel J. Elazar 1986 jcpa.org
*[[National Army Museum]]
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cochin_Jews Cochin Jews] Wikipedia
*[[Ahmadabad]] for a series of images from FamilySearch "India, Gujarat Diocese Protestant Church Records, 1854-2012"
*[http://www.jcpa.org/dje/articles/cochin-pref.htm "Foreword to ''The Last Jews of Cochin: Jewish Identity in Hindu India''"] by Daniel J. Elazar 1993 The book is by Nathan Katz and Ellen S Goldberg 1993 jcpa.org
*[[Kirkee]], for digitised pages from the registers from All Saint's Church, Kirkee
*[http://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/society/step-into-history/article4222045.ece  "Step into history"]: Jew Street, Mattancherry, Cochin by Priyadershini S. December 20, 2012 ''The Hindu''
*[[St. Helena]], for digital images from registers for Banns of Marriage [1849-1924].
*[http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=350492 Synagogues in India]  Photographs from Skyscrapercity.com
*[[Passport applications in India]]. A listing available from the Assam State Archives contains dates of birth (limited periods).
*"[http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090524/jsp/calcutta/story_10951040.jsp The Jews of Agarpara]" ''The Telegraph'' (Calcutta), 24 May 2009, details a jute connection. [http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090531/jsp/calcutta/story_11006900.jsp Part 2: "By the lazy river"] ''The Telegraph'' (Calcutta), 31 May 2009.
 
*[http://www.jewishworldreview.com/0398/india1.html  India Inkings] by Max Freidlander 11 March 1998 Jewish World Review. The author arrived in Calcutta in 1939 and lived in India for 30 years
==External links==
*[http://webhome.idirect.com/~julios/genealogy.html The Barook Family website] includes "Early Jews in Calcutta"
*[http://www.awin1.com/awclick.php?mid=2114&id=201071 findmypast]
*[http://rangandatta.wordpress.com/tag/magen-david-synagogue/ Synagogues of Calcutta (Kolkata)]  by Rangan Datta
*[http://www.deedpoll.com/tracing-a-change-of-name.htm Tracing a Change of Name by Deed Poll in the UK] deedpoll.com . Some records are available at  [[The National Archives]].  It is often the case that a proof of name change either never existed or no longer does.
*[http://forward.com/articles/128073/ The Last Jews of Calcutta] by Robert Hirschfield 17 May 2010 forward.com
*[https://www.gov.uk/search-local-archives Locate a local Archives] England and Wales only. gov.uk. If a person has returned or immigrated to the UK, a local Archive may be a source of local newspapers for funeral or other information, local electoral registers etc. (Some electoral registers are available online on Ancestry, [[findmypast]] etc).
*[http://www.telegraphindia.com/1130308/jsp/calcutta/story_16645665.jsp Death of  the leader of Calcutta’s dwindling Jewish community, David Nahoum in March 2013] ''The Telegraph'' Calcutta Friday, March 8, 2013
*[http://www.history.ac.uk/gh/marrlic.htm Marriage Licence Records (Allegations and Bonds) at Guildhall Library] This is a brief introduction to searching for records relating to the issue of marriage licences, with particular reference to those concerning the City of London and former county of Middlesex. Licences were issued by the Archbishop of Canterbury and other Bishops, and the records are called Marriage Allegations or Bishops’ Marriage Allegations. These records have been transferred to the London Metropolitan Archives and are now available online on the pay website Ancestry.
*[http://india.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/24/the-last-jews-of-kolkata/?emc=eta1&_r=2 The Last Jews of Kolkata] by Zach Marks October 24, 2013 ''International New York Times India''. Includes mention of a digital archive project by Ms Jael Silliman, expected to be accessible online in 2014
:'''Update''' July 2017.  findmypast has added a database of transcribed indexes called "London Marriage Licences 1521-1869" which is taken from the book of the same name, published 1887  available on [https://archive.org/details/londonmarriageli00fost Archive.org]
*Articles about Copeland Marks, and his cookbook  ''The Varied Kitchens of India'', which includes a section  on Calcutta Jewish food. [http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1986-12-18/features/8603170487_1_calcutta-cuisine-jewish Calcutta`s Jewish Cuisine A Unique Repertoire] by Lorna Sass December 18, 1986 sun-sentinel.com. With four recipes. [http://www.nytimes.com/1996/09/11/garden/nothing-says-kosher-like-chicken-livers-in-the-tandoor.html Nothing Says Kosher Like Chicken Livers in the Tandoor] by Florence Fabricant September 11, 1996  nytimes.com. With two recipes
*[http://www.archives.com/blog/genealogy-help/second-cousins-and-removed-cousins-difference.html Second Cousins and Removed Cousins: What's the Difference] by Amy Johnson Crow October 16, 2013 www.archives.com
*This [http://theshiksa.com/2011/12/08/potato-bhajee link] from "The Shiksa in the Kitchen" describes Jewish life in Calcutta c 1945 and includes a potato recipe from a vintage Jewish cookbook published in 1922 in Calcutta
*[http://www.dglenn.org/defs/daysymbols.html Symbols For Days Of The Week]. dglenn.org. These symbols are sometimes seen in baptismal, marriage and burial entries, generally in older church records to c 1700.
*Rahel Musleah’s [http://www.rahelsjewishindia.com/index.html  A Passage to Jewish India and Beyond] "From Baghdad to Calcutta". Includes some [http://www.rahelsjewishindia.com/page13/page12/page12.html recipes]
*[http://www.momentmag.com/talk-of-the-table-jan-feb-2013 "The Spicy Tale of India’s Jewish Cuisine"] by Sala Levin January 15, 2013 www.momentmag.com. Includes a potato recipe.
*[http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/13/dining/a-seder-spiced-with-flavors-from-india.html?_r=0 "A Seder Spiced with Indian Flavors"] by Joan Nathan  March 12, 2013. ''The New York Times''/Dining. The Jewish food of Cochin. Includes a short video and a recipe
*[http://www.thejewishnews.com/jews-in-burma-we-are-still-here Jews In Burma: “We Are Still Here!”]   13 January  2012 thejewishnews.com
*[http://www.timescrest.com/society/tombstone-to-kitchen-slab-5882  Tombstone to kitchen slab] July 23, 2011 The Times of India Crest Edition. Details the neglect and destruction of Jewish cemeteries.
*India-British-Raj [http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/INDIA-BRITISH-RAJ/2009-09/1254117321 thread] about books. The link mentioned by Nick Balmer has now been [http://web.archive.org/web/20090813023357/http://www.sino-judaic.org/pointseast/historicvisit.html archived]
*[http://www.indulgedtraveler.com/destinations/destinations-asia/remnants-of-jews-in-singapore Remnants of Jews in Singapore] by Barbara Kingstone  January 17, 2011 indulgedtraveler.com
*Pakistan
**[http://web.archive.org/web/20060519101358/http://fletcher.tufts.edu/news/2005/09/najam091605.shtml  Where have Pakistan’s Jews gone?] by Adil Najam September 16, 2005  The Flecther School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, USA, now archived; [http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_16-9-2005_pg3_3 Alternative version]
**[http://archives.dawn.com/archives/13209 No more in Karachi] 27 February 2010 Dawn.com [http://jewishrefugees.blogspot.com/2010/03/ashkenazi-hotel-owners-living-in.html Alternative version]
**[http://issuu.com/etribune/docs/february-6 The Express Tribune Magazine for 6 February  2011] contains the article  "In Search of the Jews of Karachi", pages 18-25. Click to page 18.
**[http://www.jewishtimesasia.org/main-news-topmenu-48/359-2010-08/1732-jewish-cemetery-in-karachi-documented-for-first-time Jewish Cemetery In Karachi Documented For First Time]  Jewishtimesasia.org [http://www.cemeteryofthelosttribe.com  View the documentary film]
**[http://haroonhaider.com/2010/09/13/magen-shalom-the-last-synagogue-in-pakistan/ Magen Shalom, The Last Synagogue in Pakistan?] Haroonhaider.com [http://www.flickr.com/photos/daudpota/2059883242 Magain Shalome Synagogue, Karachi] Flickr.com
**[http://website.thejc.com/home.aspx?AId=54702&ATypeId=1&search=true2&srchstr=karachi&srchtxt=0&srchhead=1&srchauthor=0&srchsandp=0&scsrch=0 Karachi’s forgotten Jews] The JC.com
**[http://www.dawn.com/news/1046956/karachis-yahoodi-masjid/1  Karachi's 'Yahoodi Masjid'] by Akhtar Balouch 2013-10-03 Dawn.com. The Jewish presence in Karachi
*[https://wiki.familysearch.org/en/Category:Jews Category:Jews] Family Search (LDS)  Wiki
*Bollywood connections
**[http://www.totallyjewish.com/entertainment/features_and_reviews/?content_id=5452 The Jews Who Built Bollywood] 30  January 2007 TotallyJewish.com
**[http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/41319/bollywoods-bad-girls-jewish-actresses-lit-up-screen-in-indian-cinemas-early/ Bollywood’s ‘bad girls’: Jewish actresses lit up screen in Indian cinema’s early years] 11 February 2010 Jweekly.com
**[http://www.tabletmag.com/podcasts/7960/the-queens-of-bollywood/ The Queens of Bollywood: When Jewish women were the leading ladies of Indian cinema] Tablet 29 June 2009 This link includes a podcast  by reporter Eric Molinsky
**Sammy Benjamin’s  [http://b-inet.com/sammy/indian-jewish-actors/ (Lesser Known) Pioneering Indian Jewish Bollywood  Actresses & Actors]


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[[Category:Non-British Ancestors]]
[[Category: Records]]

Revision as of 23:05, 17 January 2020

These ‘Vital Records’ include not only Births, Marriages and Deaths but more particularly in India, Baptisms/Christenings, Marriages and Burials. There was some registration of Births and Deaths in British India commencing in 1864 in Calcutta but generally it was voluntary.

There are a number of sources for locating birth, marriage or death information. This article provides an overview of these. See the links to the main article for each source for more in depth information.

Also consider the following:

  • a person may have been baptised with a certain Christian name, but been known by a completely different name, either for their whole life, or for various periods.
  • a second marriage may be bigamous
  • the birth mother may not be correctly stated in a baptismal record.
  • a person who had been widowed may be described as a Bachelor/Spinster on a 2nd marriage record

FIBIS resources

Ecclesiastical records

Main article: Church records

(‘N’ Series in the India Office Records)

The East India Company established and paid for Anglican dioceses and parishes in all areas as they came under its control. Each chaplain/parish minister was required to establish registers in which to record BMDs. In addition, he had to send duplicates to the presidency ecclesiastical authorities. The latter have been collated and sent to London and are now in the care of the India Office Records at the British Library in their Asian & African Studies Reading Room. Ministers, priests and missionaries who were not employed by the East India Company were not obliged to send these returns, however some did so on a voluntary basis but these records are available to a lesser extent.

Microfilmed copies of all the records are available for public inspection and indexes are available on the open shelves of the APAC, broken down by Presidency, alphabetically and by year.

The N series contains Anglican and some Catholic and Non-Conformist records.

The majority of these records have been digitised and are available online through the commercial site findmypast. If record is not found one should continue the search amongst the India Office records at the British Library. Also, be aware that the digital images are restricted for privacy purposes and a limited transcription only is available, currently (January 2020) as follows: There are no digital images for baptisms after 1919, nor for marriages after 1934.

Registrar Marriages

Main article: Registrar marriages

Marriages conducted by the Registrar, which commenced in 1852, are included in the India Office ‘N’ series (N/11). A complete transcription of the indexes to these records is included in the FIBIS Search section of this website.

The Registrar Marriages records are included in the digitised records available on the commercial site findmypast

The LDS have not filmed these records.

Records on the LDS Family Search website

Main article: IGI

The LDS maintained International Genealogical Index is a huge database of genealogical information. The IGI contains several hundred thousand birth and marriage entries for the British India period, data input from the ecclesiastical record microfilms. Those from the ecclesiastical records provide reference numbers so that the microfilms may be viewed at LDS Family History Centres.

Details of other microfilms from the LDS Library Catalogue in respect of Church registers in India are also included.

‘Domestic Occurrences’ in registers, almanacs and newspapers

Main article: Domestic Occurrences

'Domestic Occurrences' was a section found in many periodical publications detailing birth, marriage and death announcements. It is easy to search these records in the digitized versions of journals and directories that are available online. FIBIS has a wealth of transcribed resources.

Records at The National Archives

Main article: General Register Office

The National Archives hold some records that may be useful in tracing a BMD outside of the United Kingdom. For more help see TNA’s brief guide "Looking for records of a birth, marriage or death of a British national at sea or abroad" or the books Tracing Your Ancestors in The National Archives by Amanda Bevan (7th edn, National Archives Kew, 2006), including chapter 8, "Births, marriages and deaths of Britons overseas or in the armed services" and The British Overseas, A Guide to Records of Their Births, Baptisms, Marriages, Deaths and Burials Available in the United Kingdom by Geoffrey Yeo (London, 3rd edition 1995).

There is reference in the main article to some other sources of overseas records such as the London Metropolitan Archives.

BMDs at sea

Main article: Births, marriages and deaths at sea

British Army

British Army Ecclesiastical returns and Chaplains Returns detail sources other than the N series for India BMDs pertaining to British Army soldiers and their families.

Birth and death registration

Main article: Birth and death registration

Some birth and death registration did occur in British India. It commenced in the 1860s but was only compulsory in some areas, with other places adopting voluntary registration. The records are obtained from local Municipal Corporations, therefore researchers must know where a birth occurred. Some people born in India pre 1947 have copies of their birth registration. Recent copies are known to have been obtained from the Shimla Municipal Corporation following a visit there, but it is not known whether these documents are generally available, or how far back existing records go.

See also

External links

  • findmypast
  • Tracing a Change of Name by Deed Poll in the UK deedpoll.com . Some records are available at The National Archives. It is often the case that a proof of name change either never existed or no longer does.
  • Locate a local Archives England and Wales only. gov.uk. If a person has returned or immigrated to the UK, a local Archive may be a source of local newspapers for funeral or other information, local electoral registers etc. (Some electoral registers are available online on Ancestry, findmypast etc).
  • Marriage Licence Records (Allegations and Bonds) at Guildhall Library This is a brief introduction to searching for records relating to the issue of marriage licences, with particular reference to those concerning the City of London and former county of Middlesex. Licences were issued by the Archbishop of Canterbury and other Bishops, and the records are called Marriage Allegations or Bishops’ Marriage Allegations. These records have been transferred to the London Metropolitan Archives and are now available online on the pay website Ancestry.
Update July 2017. findmypast has added a database of transcribed indexes called "London Marriage Licences 1521-1869" which is taken from the book of the same name, published 1887 available on Archive.org

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