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link to official website & correct inaccurate information
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 the good news is that they are all indexed and available on microfilm. Records of baptisms, marriages and burials are available 1698-1968.
The records are housed in the [[British Library]] in London. '''The commerical website findmypast.co.uk has digitised these records and they are now available online''' However Due to the fact that more recent records may contain details for individuals who are still living, be aware that the digital images are restricted website findmypast host only a basic index for privacy purposes birth/baptism records within 100 years and a limited transcription only is available, currently (January 2014) as followsmarriage records under 84 years. <ref> [http: '''There are no digital images for baptisms after 1914, nor for marriages after 1929//www.bl.uk/reshelp/findhelpregion/asia/india/britishinindia/index.html The British In India Collection]bl.'''uk </ref>
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 very few records sent to England.'''
The ecclesiatical records in the India Office collection are transcriptions of registers from churches in India, sent to London for administrative purposes. As such, there are occasional transcription errors. As an example, the British Library IOR records show the surname as 'Hobeau', whereas the original hand written entry in the register at the church in Madras shows the name as 'Hobson'.<ref> India List [http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/INDIA/2011-02/1296753914 post] by Colin Evans</ref> It is also possible to have age transcription errors<ref> India List post [http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/INDIA/2010-04/1271243050 Church transcription errors]</ref>
Note that the name of godparents is not includedare entered only occasionally on copies of baptisms in the British Library. This information is , however, generally available from the church registers in India.
==Records at the British Library==
