8,455
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
links and typo's
==Background==
British India was divided into three Presidencies :
*[[Bombay]], which covered the west and north of the country, including what is now [[Pakistan]]; *[[Bengal]], which covered the east of the country and included [[Burma ]] and what is now [[Bangladesh]]; *[[Madras]], which covered the southern portion of India. The main cities of the Presidencies were [[Bombay]], [[Calcutta ]] and [[Madras]], respectively.
The first British church in India was St Mary's in [[Fort St George]], [[Madras]], which was consecrated in 1680. Many other churches were established after that date and records exist for most of them from the time of their consecration. Every year on Lady Day (25th March), British churches were required to send copies of their ecclesiastical records to the capital city of each Presidency. The Presidencies then indexed the records and sent them to the India Office in London (now [[APAC]] at the [[British Library]]). The Mormons have microfilmed all the ecclesiastical records, including the indices, and made them available to Mormons and non-Mormons alike.
==Index==
The first step is to determine which Presidency your ancestor lived in, as each one is indexed separately. If you have no idea, then start with [[Bengal]], which was the largest Presidency. If that doesn't work out, try [[Bombay ]] and finally, [[Madras]]. If you have a location name and are a member of the INDIA-L Mailing List then you could ask its helpful members for advice on which Presidency to search, or try the Locations section of the FIBS FIBIS website.
For the following steps, you may use the microfiche or computers at your local FHC.First, select the Family History Catalogue Locality Guide (either a CD for the computer, or a drawer of microfiche). The Locality Guide is divided into countries, regions, cities and so on, then sub-divided into subject headings. Look up '''India''', then under that country's listing, look up the Presidency ('''Bombay''', '''Bengal''' or '''Madras'''). Then look up the subject heading '''Church Records'''.
Alternatively, you can search online by going to the LDS [http://www.familysearch.org/eng/Library/FHLC/frameset_fhlc.asp Locality Guide] and conducting a ''Place Search''.
If you only have one or two records that you wish to extract from the actual records, then another method of obtaining the same information is to ask the LDS to make a photocopy of the record for you. You must give the FHC librarian the equivalent of $US2, and supply them with the microfilm number and page number, obtained from the index. Fill out a Request for Photocopies form, and the photocopies will be sent to you in due course. You may have up to 8 photocopies for the same $US2 fee, so this can work out to be significantly cheaper.
Please be aware that the FIBIS searchabel searchable database has indexes to '''all''' Bengal Marriages 1709-1893, searchable for free.
==Conclusion==
I know that this sounds very complicated, but once you're familiar with the records you'll realise that it's fairly straightforward. Look up the Locality Guide and order a film, view the index, look up the Locality Guide and order a film again, then view the record.
