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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==
*'''The commercial website [[findmypast]] digitised the India Office Church records and they were released online on 29 January 2014'''. Note that some India Office Records will not be found in the findmypast database, (for technical or other reasons).
:For privacy reasons be aware that currently (2019March 2021) a limited transcription only is available on findmypast with no digital images for births baptisms '''after 19181921''', and for marriages '''after 19331936'''. Currently there appear to be additional records added on an annual basis, although this has not been consistent in past years.::Images of records after these dates can be obtained from digitised [[FamilySearch]] microfilm, viewable , for non-LDS Church members, at a FamilySearch Centre for free. Currently (2021/03) these digitised microfilms are also available at FamilySearch Affiliate Libraries, but such access has varied in the past, so check availability at AFs, also noting some AFs which are libraries of Societies may charge a visitor fee for non members. See [[FamilySearch Centres|FamilySearch Centre]]for details. The other option is to visit the British Library, or request a copy of the record (for which a charge applies) from the [[British Library]], which may be the preferred option if your nearest FamilySearch Centre or Affiliate Library is not geographically or otherwise convenient for you.*Many of the indexes have been previously transcribed by FIBIS Volunteers and are available in the [httpshttp://searchfibis.fibisourarchives.org/frontisonline/bin/index.php FIBIS Search database] under the heading Ecclesiastical Records.
*Enhanced indexes from the church records at the British Library were added in April 2010 to the LDS [[IGI|FamilySearch website]]. These are free to search and view but examination of the full record will give further information. There are some records which are '''not available on findmypast'''.
**The FamilySearch website also contains some databases which are browsable collections of images, which have not been indexed, which are of church registers in India and Ceylon. Currently (2016/11) these are
***India, Madras Diocese Protestant Church Records, 1743-1990. Hints for browsing these records.<ref>Cheryl. [https://web.archive.org/web/20190209215108/https://lists.rootsweb.com/hyperkitty/list/india.rootsweb.com/thread/113724/ Baptism records - Madras Presidency] ''Rootsweb India Mailing List'' 11 November 2016. Retrieved 9 February 2019, archived.</ref>
***India, Gujarat Diocese Protestant Church Records, 1854-2012
***Sri Lanka, Colombo District Dutch Reformed Church Records 1677-1990
*Some records, a small proportion of the whole, have been transcribed and are searchable on the British Library's [http://indiafamily.bl.uk/UI/ India Office Family History Search].
===Geographic location===
Most of the records relate to British India and in particular to the three [[Presidencies]] of Bengal, Madras and Bombay, whose boundaries varied over time.
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. The same applies to records from mining cities such as [[Kolar Gold Fields]].
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 ===
Following Catholic emancipation in England and Wales (1829) Irish soldiers prevailed upon the presidency authorities to provide English-speaking Catholic chaplains and churches for their use. These were established beginning in the mid-1830s. Again, their BMD returns were made to the presidency ecclesiastical authorities. Initially, these returns were filed separately (N/x/RC series, where x=1 for Bengal, x=2 for Madras and x=3 for Bombay) but after a few years, they were amalgamated with the Anglican records.
<br>[httphttps://wwwdiscovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2abrowse/records.aspx?cat=059-iorn&cid=1r/h/bf3faf94-14283-642#143fc-1a30b-642 013234bf570c N/1/RC 1842-1856], [httphttps://wwwdiscovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2abrowse/r/records.aspx?cat=059-iorn&cid=1h/a3206289-2bb23-180#14744-295c9-180 79265261167a N/2/RC 1835-1854], [httphttps://wwwdiscovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2abrowse/records.aspx?cat=059-iorn&cid=1r/h/4b6a06cc-39a97-179#146bd-39cd8-179 a59d1ec4fc46 N/3/RC 1842-1854]. These records are available on [[LDSFamilySearch]] microfilm, refer table below. It would be expected/assumed this series of records is included in the digitised N/1, N/2 and N/3 India Office Church records on the pay website Findmypast, refer above.
== Missionary and Non-Conformist Church records, including the Church of Scotland ==
*The FamilySearch website contains some databases which are browsable collections of images, which have not been indexed, which are of church registers in India and Ceylon, refer [[Church records#Online records and transcriptions|above]].
* See [[Cemeteries]] for details of monumental inscriptions in books, including books available online.
*''Bengal Past and Present: Journal of the Calcutta Historical Society'', available at the [[British Library]] has lists of baptisms, marriages and burials based on the original church registers in Calcutta, up to 1800. They are probably mostly covered by the Ecclesiastical Returns in the B.L.[[British Library]], however there may be some additional entries which never made it to England (e.g. the ship carrying the returns to England was lost). :Transcriptions from Registers of St John's, Calcutta by E W Madge as they appeared in ''Bengal Past and Present''. Each listing contains many pages of biographical notes. Some articles Articles are available online, on the Archive.org, most being mirrors of files originally from Digital Library of India website, or through the mirror editions on Archive.org. Other articles are available at the [[British Library]]. '''Note''': Records for Baptisms 1767-1777 have been transcribed and are available on the [http://searchfibis.fibisourarchives.org/frontisonline/bin/aps_browse_sources.php?mode=browse_dataset&id=1979&s_id=1064&sort=0&st=0&np=14&tn=412 FIBIS database] in the category Publications.
:*[https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.134759/2015.134759.Bengal-Past-And--Present-Vol20---21jan-june#page/n351/mode/2up Baptisms 1713-1758] BPP Volume XXI, pp 143-159. Archive.org/DLI
:*[https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.31275/page/n409/mode/2up Baptisms 1759-1766 ] BPP Volume V, pp 325-332. Archive.org, Archaeological Survey of India Collection.
:*[https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.501554/2015.501554.Bengal-Past#page/n383/mode/2up Baptisms 1767 -1777] BPP Volume XXV, January-June 1923, pp 130-155, Archive.org/DLI
:*[https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.501554/2015.501554.Bengal-Past#page/n167/mode/2up Baptisms 1778-1782] BPP Volume XXVI 1923, pp 142-168. Archive.org/DLI
:*[https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.134759/2015.134759.Bengal-Past-And--Present-Vol20---21jan-june#page/n285/mode/2up Marriages 1781-1800 (Supplementary Register)] BBP Volume XXI, pp 76-141. Archive.org/DLI.
:*[https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.32665/2015.32665.Bengal-Past-And-Present--Vol10#page/n83/mode/2up Burials 1713-1755] BPP Volume X, Jan-June 1915, Serial Nos 19-20, pp 257-284 . Archive.org/DLI.
:*[https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.31275/page/n167/mode/2up Burials 1759-1761 ] BBP Volume V, pp 136-142Archive.org, Archaeological Survey of India Collection.
:*[https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.500675/2015.500675.Bengal-Past#page/n141/mode/2up Burials 1762-1774] BBP Volume VI 1910, pp 92-126. Archive.org/DLI.
:*[https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.501558/2015.501558.Bengal-Past#page/n147/mode/2up Burials 1775-81] BPP Volume 31 (Jan-Jun 1926) pages 130-156. Archive.org/DLI.
== Regional breakdown of ecclesiastical records ==
Many of the following records are '''also available on the pay website Findmypast'''.
{|border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3"
|+'''(Baptisms, Marriages and Burials''')
|-
| . || . || RC/1-5 || 1842 – 1856 ||[httphttps://www.familysearch.org/engsearch/librarycatalog/fhlcatalog/supermainframeset.asp?display=titlefilmnotes&columns=*%2C0%2C0&titleno=143359&disp=Roman++Catholic++returns++of++baptisms2++ LDS FamilySearch Library catalogue]
|-
| N/2 || [[Madras (Presidency)|Madras]] || 1 – 176<br>'''For more details see'''<br> [[LDS Microfilms for Madras Presidency Church Records]] || 1698 – 1948 || 463296 - 527486
| N/3 || [[Bombay (Presidency)|Bombay]] || 1 – 178<br>'''For more details see'''<br> [[LDS Microfilms for Bombay Presidency Church Records]] || 1709 – 1948 || 462965 - 523914
|-
| . || . || RC/1-5 || 1842 – 1854 || [httphttps://www.familysearch.org/engsearch/librarycatalog/fhlcatalog/supermainframeset.asp?display=titlefilmnotes&columns=*%2C0%2C0&titleno=143359&disp=Roman++Catholic++returns++of++baptisms2++ LDS FamilySearch Library catalogue]
|-
| N/4 || India and Pakistan || 1 – 8 || 1949 – 1968 || 527415 - 527421
| . || . || 3 Madras, Assam, Burma, Central Provinces and Punjab ||||
|}
<nowiki>*</nowiki> or Film Numbers to insert into the [[LDSFamilySearch]] Catalogue to yield full range. Note: The [[LDSFamilySearch]] tend to classify the locations of these ecclesiastical events according to the present day Indian States, which the researcher will have to relate to the provinces of the former British Presidencies.
==Other sources==
==Churches==
Some church registers in India have not survived due to climate conditions such as flooding, or may have been eaten by insects. For those registers which survive, some churches retain their original registers, while some registers have been centralised in Diocesan offices. As a general rule, many churches and church organisations do not answer emails or letters, due either to a lack of staff, a lack of interest, potential problems with money transfer, or other reasons. Telephone contact perhaps may be more successful. There are exceptions, generally when the minister of a church has an interest in historical records. Most people who have obtained records from India have personally visited and have generally made a (generous) donation to a church or organisation.
Professional genealogical researchers appear not to exist in India and this may be related to the fact that churches are reported willing to supply church records only to family members, not to unrelated researchers.<ref>Some years ago (c 2010-2012) a researcher asked the company YourManInIndia
whose services include Document Procurement (as part of their Concierge Services) whether it could obtain church records, but was advised churches would not supply records to unrelated persons/companies.</ref>
*[[Churches in South India]], a list of postal addresses and phone numbers of all bishops of CSI dioceses in India, correct in 1993 together with some current website details.
:'''Update December 2016''': BDM records for CSI are now kept at CSI Diocesan Office, 226 Cathedral Road, Chennai 600 086.<ref>Brook, Michael. [https://www.ancestry.com/boards/localities.asia.india.general/2973/mb.ashx BDM records for CSI] ''Rootsweb India Message Board'' 14 December 2016. Retrieved 9 February 2019.</ref>
In India, as in England, parish churches, both Church of England and Roman Catholic, were obliged to send an annual copy of baptisms, marriages and burials to their Diocesan offices. These are known in the UK and elsewhere as "Bishop's Transcripts" ( BTs, also known as Parish Register Transcripts)
"As long as the Diocesan records have not been destroyed, you will always find a copy there from every single parish church within that diocese. If you don’t get a result from the parish (where for instance, as in Burma, many have been destroyed) then write to the Bishop's secretary".<ref> Steevens, Mark. [https://web.archive.org/web/20200507050812/https://lists.rootsweb.com/hyperkitty/list/india.rootsweb.com/thread/2240438/ Roman Catholic Registers in India (and elsewhere)] ''Rootsweb India Mailing List'' 30 December 2009. Retrieved 9 February 2019, archived.</ref>
==External links==
