England, Kent, Canterbury Parish Registers - FamilySearch Historical Records

This collection consists of parish registers from the city of Canterbury for the years 1538-1900.

Why Should I Look at This Collection?
Parish registers have been kept at the local level across England since the mid-1500s. Due to this long and relatively stable tradition, these records are central to English genealogical research as they are often one of the only sources for finding families and individuals in England before the start of civil registration in 1837.

To learn more about parish registers, please see the England Parish Registers page.

What is in the Collection?
This collection contains indexed baptism, marriage, and burial records. The records were filmed at the Canterbury Cathedral Archives, and the index is being created by findmypast.com.

How Do I Search This Collection?
Before searching, it is best to know the following information: As you search, compare your results with this information to find a match.
 * Name of the person
 * Date range for the record

Search the Index
You will be able to search this collection once it is published.

I Found the Person I Was Looking for, What Now?

 * Copy down all the information in the index entry.
 * Cite the record. See below for help citing this collection.
 * Use what you have found to find more. For instance, use the age listed in a record to estimate a year of birth, if you do not know that yet
 * If in the appropriate period, use the information which has been discovered to find the individual in civil records. Particularly useful for research in nineteenth-century England are the England Census and Civil Registration records.
 * Continue to search the index to identify children, siblings, parents, and other relatives. Note that family members often appear on an individual's vital records, such as in the role of witnesses to a marriage.

I Can’t Find the Person I’m Looking for, What Now?

 * When looking for an individual with a common name, look at all the search results before deciding which is the correct person. Use other information, such as place of birth, age, occupation, or names of parents, to help with this decision. If listed, a personal title may be a clue to property ownership or occupation, either of which might be noted in other records.
 * Try variations of given names and surnames. An individual might appear under a different name in a record for a variety of reasons:
 * - An individual might have been listed under a middle name, nickname, or abbreviation of their given name.
 * - Spelling was not standardized for much of the period of this collection, so names were often spelled as scribes heard them. Pay attention to how the name should have been pronounced and try spelling variations that could have that pronunciation.
 * - Some women returned to their maiden names after the death of their husbands.


 * Vary the search terms. For example, expand the date range or search by either the given name or surname to return broader list of search results.
 * Search the records of nearby parishes. While a person in this period rarely lived more than 20 miles from their place of birth, moves within this range were common. For this collection, nearby parishes could include other Kent parishes outside Canterbury. See the Kent Parishes page for more information.
 * The individual in question may not have records in the Church of England at all, but rather might have belonged to a nonconformist denomination. See England Nonconformist Church Records for more information.

Citing This Collection
Citations help you keep track of places you have searched and sources you have found. Identifying your sources helps others find the records you used.

Collection Citation

Record (or Index) Citation