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→Roman Catholic Records
The Company initially legislated against the employment of Roman Catholics. However, such was the pressure to find recruits for its armies in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars in the late 18th Century, it was forced to repeal this legislation and to recruit Catholic soldiers from [[Ireland]]. The pastoral needs of these soldiers were generally met by the independent Catholic Missionaries, largely established by the [[Portuguese]] or the [[French]].
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>[http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a/records.aspx?cat=059-iorn&cid=1-1-642#1-1-642 N/1/RC 1842-1856], [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a/records.aspx?cat=059-iorn&cid=1-2-180#1-2-180 N/2/RC 1835-1854], [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a/records.aspx?cat=059-iorn&cid=1-3-179#1-3-179 N/3/RC 1842-1854]. These records are available on [[LDS]] microfilm, refer table below.
This India List [http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/INDIA/2010-01/1263410424 post] gives further details.
