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There was some [[Birth and death registration|registration]] of Births and Deaths in [[British India]], commencing in 1864 in Calcutta, but generally it was voluntary, and records which exist are difficult to access. The next best thing for a genealogist is to use '''Church Records'''. An estimated 70% of all [[Birth, marriage and death records|baptism, marriage and burial records]] have survived today in the [[India Office Records]], and they are all indexed and available on microfilm. Records of baptisms, marriages and burials are available 1698-1968.
An estimated 70% of all [[Birth, marriage and death records|baptism, marriage and burial records]] have survived today in the [[India Office Records]], and they are all indexed and available on microfilm, and many are now available online, see below. Records of baptisms, marriages and burials are available 1698-1968. The records are housed in the [[British Library]] in London.
In 1930 the Anglican Church in India separated from the Church of England and became the autonomous Church of India, [[Burma]] and [[Ceylon]], still within the Anglican Communion. '''From this time onwards fewer ecclesiastical records were sent to England, and the number continued to decline over time. By the 1940s there were relatively very few records sent to England.'''
[[Image:Marriage cert St Pauls Calcutta.jpg|thumb|300px|Certificate of an 1885 marriage]]
As a general rule, there appears to be a better coverage of Anglican records compared to Roman Catholic and other church records. Records for some geographical/ occupational groups such as Railway Colonies appear to be under represented, or indeed non existent, even if the Railway Colonies were located in British India.
==Records at the British Library==
Some Army (East India Company and Indian Army) cantonments were geographically located outside of British India, in areas in [[Princely States]], leased by the Government in India. However, for record purposes these cantonments were considered to be part of British India and located in one of the Presidencies. The records from churches in these cantonments will generally be found in the Presidencies' records.
In contrast, railway colonies located in Princely States were not considered to be part of British India, even if the Railway was British owned, and records will not be found in the Presidency records. A possible source is the Indian States N/5 records mentioned below in [[Church records#Regional breakdown of ecclesiastical records|Regional breakdown of ecclesiastical records]], but many railway colony records are not included. Even for British India, many railway colony records do not appear in the collection at the British Library, and must be sourced, if they still exist, from churches in India.
=== Anglican Records ===
