England - Birth - 1066-1537

The record categories below are arranged in the order most likely to help you find a birth in this time period.

Probate Records, Pre-1858
Probate records are court records dealing with the distribution of a person's estate after death. Before January 1858, Church of England courts had the responsibility to prove wills and other probate records. In these records you may find names and relationships. Probate records include wills, testaments, administrations (admons), inventories, codicils, act books, and bonds.

What you are looking for A will or administration for your ancestor or your ancestor's name in another person's will.

Accessing the Records

For information on accessing probate records, go to the Probate Records page.

Manorial Record: Manors
Manorial records are private records of an estate held by a lord of the manor. They include court minutes listing tenants, leases, land transfers, manorial appointments, rental fees, and petty crimes. In these records you may find names and relationships of tenants. Sometimes you can trace a family back several generations.

Quarter Sessions: Court records
Court records are government documents concerning civil matters. Most court records name people who were defendants, plaintiffs, jurors, or witnesses. In these records you may find a person's residence, occupation, physical description, family relationships, name of spouse, and some death and marriage information. Court records seldom provide birth information but may give ages.

Court records tend to be difficult to use because the handwriting is hard to read, they can include unfamiliar legal terms, and they may not be indexed. Use court records after you have searched other records.

Quarter Session records are the county court records. The courts met quarterly. For more information, see the article on England Court Records.

Accessing the records

Quarter Session records are on microfilm at the Family History Library. Go to the library catalog, do a Place search for your county of interest in England, and from the list of topics, click on Court Records.

Inquisitions Post Mortem: Land and property
An inquisition post mortem is a record of the estate of a deceased person who held land directly from the king. A summoned jury determined the extent of his or her possessions and who was entitled to inherit them. In these records you may find the name and birth date or age of the heir and a description of the property. Names of tenants and jurors are also given.

Occupational Records: Occupations
Occupational records provide information on a person's employment or training for a craft, trade, or profession. Knowing a person's occupation can distinguish him or her from other individuals with the same name. Occupational records may include name, age, residence, sometimes father's or widow's name, and other information about a person's life and family. Some types of occupational records are apprenticeship and freemen records; trade, guild, or livery records; and histories of occupations.

Biography: Biography
A biography is a history of a person's life. A biography may provide an individual's date and place of birth and names of parents, as well as other details. Look for biographies in biographical dictionaries and encyclopedias, society journals, periodicals, and local histories. Verify information in biographical sources.

Family History: Genealogy
The term family history describes a variety of records containing personal and family information gathered by researchers, societies, or archives. These records can include published family histories, pedigree charts, family group records, research notes on families, correspondence, ancestor lists, research exchange files, record abstracts, and collections of original or copied documents. Family histories can be excellent sources of information that can save you valuable research time. Because these records are compiled from a variety of sources, the information must be carefully evaluated and verified for accuracy. Internet genealogy sites can be helpful in researching a specific family name. If your ancestor emigrated from another country, look for more information in his or her country of birth.

Church Monuments: Cemeteries
Church monuments are memorials to wealthy, noble, royal, or other distinguished people. They are often brass plaques, stone statues, or effigies placed inside the church or on church grounds. Information on monuments may include names and dates only. Many church monuments have been transcribed and published.

Land Records: Land and property
Land and property records are records of land ownership and transfers. Use land records to learn when and where an individual lived. In these records you may find names, dates, addresses, occupations, a description of the property, terms of land transfers, and names of heirs, relatives, and neighbors. Land records usually do not provide birth, marriage, or death information but may give clues that can help you find records that do. Land records include surveys, grants, deeds, registers, and plat maps.

Visitations: Visitations, Heraldic
The government commissioned men called heralds to periodically visit all areas throughout the country to grant and regulate the use of coats of arms. Heralds granted coats of arms to knights, gentlemen, landed gentry, and others entitled to bear them. In these records you may find names, dates, places, and relationships. Sometimes these records may help you trace the descent of a family. These records include coats of arms and visitation pedigrees. Verify heraldic information.

For more information, see the article on Herald's Visitations.

School and Alumni Records: Schools
School and alumni records are lists of individuals who attended a school, college, or university. In these records you may find name, age, date and place of birth, residence, father's name and occupation, marriage information, and other biographical details. School records list teachers, students, and graduates.

Chancery Court Records: Court records
Court records are government documents concerning civil matters. Most court records name people who were defendants, plaintiffs, jurors, or witnesses. In these records you may find a person's residence, occupation, physical description, family relationships, name of spouse, and some death and marriage information. Court records seldom provide birth information but may give ages.

Use court records after you have searched other records. Court records tend to be difficult to use because the handwriting is hard to read and they include unfamiliar legal terms.

Chancery court was a national or crown court and dealt with matters concerning crown property or matters which could not be handled at the county level. For more information, see the article on England Court Records.

Indexes and abstracts of Chancery Court records are available at the Family History Library. Go to the library catalog and do a Place search for England then click on the topic of Court Records. Also look under Court Records--Indexes.

Church Records: Church records
Church records are parish, chapel, or congregation registers created by church authorities. The Established or Anglican church was government-sponored in England, known as the Church of England. As the church was created in 1536, rarely do registers survive prior to this year. The registers contain baptisms or christenings, marriages, and burials. Thus particularly in burials and to an extent, in marriages, you may find pre-1537 information on ancestry. In these records you may find names and dates and places of burials and marriages (as well, births or christenings). See the section on the range of years, 1538-1837 for information on birth/christening/baptism dates.

For more information about church records, go to the Church Records page.