England, Surrey Parish Registers - FamilySearch Historical Records

England Surrey

This collection consists of church records from the county of Surrey for the years 1538-1970.

What is in the Collection?
The records were filmed at several archives including the London Metropolitan Archives.

In its most basic sense, a parish register is a record of religious ordinances performed in the Church of England. Beginning in 1538, every parish priest was required to write down certain information about every baptism (officially termed “christening” in Anglican use), marriage, and burial that took place in his parish over the course of each year. He was then supposed to bind these pages into a single volume, thereby annually producing a comprehensive history of his ministerial efforts. After 1754, a new law required that marriages be recorded in a separate book, and banns—public proclamations of a couple’s intent to marry—were to be recorded in yet another book. Starting in 1812, pre-printed registers were introduced, and separate registers were then kept for baptisms, marriages, and burials. It should also be noted that many parish records were not kept during the Interregnum, 1649-1660, due to temporary changes in the hierarchy of the Church of England.

Due to this long and relatively stable tradition, parish registers 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.

One of the 39 historic counties of England, Surrey is an inland county in southeastern England. The London metropolis takes up much of the north and east of this county. For a list of the parishes which historically made up this county with links to more information about each of them, see the Surrey Parishes page.

Collection Content
This collection contains baptism, marriage, and burial registers. Birth record entries are the most common in this collection, followed by burial records, with marriage records constituting the smallest portion.

What Can this Collection Tell Me?
The following lists indicate potential information given in each type of record. It must be remembered that every record may not provide all the listed information, as the procedures for keeping parish records evolved considerably over the centuries after 1538. It must also be noted that individual parishes often developed record-keeping traditions unique to themselves.

How Do I Search the Collection?
Before beginning a search in these records, it is best to know the full name of the individual in question, as well as an approximate time range for the desired record. When entered into the search engine on the Collection Page, this information provides the quickest, most reliable path to finding the correct person. Search by Name by visiting the Collection Page: Fill in the requested information in the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the individuals in the list with what is already known to determine if this is the correct family or person. This step may require examining multiple individuals before the correct match is located. View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Page: Follow this series of links to search the digitized records directly: ⇒Select "Browse through images" on the initial collection page ⇒Select the "Record Type" heading to go to the images Compare the information found on the images with what is already known determine if a particular record relates to the correct person. This process may require examining multiple records before the correct person is located.

Many of the records in this collection are written in an old script that may be challenging to read. Refer to BYU’s Script Tutorial for assistance with reading the records.

Image Visibility
Whenever possible, FamilySearch makes images of digitized records available for all users. However, ultimate rights to view images on this website are granted by the record custodians. Due to their restrictions on this collection, certain records may not be displayed in any electronic format and therefore are not available for viewing online.

For additional information about image restrictions, please see the Restrictions for Viewing Images in FamilySearch Historical Record Collections page.

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

 * Use the information which has been discovered to find more. For instance, use the estimated age given in a marriage or burial record to calculate an approximate year of birth, if that is yet undetermined.
 * Use the information which has been discovered to find the individual in other records. Particularly useful for research in nineteenth-century England are the England Census and the England 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?
For additional help searching online collections see FamilySearch Search Tips and Tricks.
 * When looking for a person with a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which individual is correct. Use other information, such as place of birth, age, occupation, or names of parents, to determine which candidate is the correct person. If listed, a personal title may be a clue to property ownership or occupation, either of which might be noted in other records.
 * Check for variants of given names, surnames, and place names. Remember that it was not uncommon for an individual be listed under a nickname or an abbreviation of their name in a church record. See Abbreviations found in Genealogical Records for some common examples of abbreviations. Note that some women reverted to their maiden name when their husband died, and therefore could be buried under their maiden name.
 * Vary the search terms. For example, search by either the given name or surname to return broader list of possible candidates which can then be examined for matches. Alternatively, try expanding the date range; this is especially useful in searching baptismal records, as it was not unusual for a child to be baptized weeks or even months after birth.
 * Search the records of nearby parishes. While it was uncommon for an individual in this period to move more than about 40 miles from their place of birth, smaller relocations were not uncommon. For this particular collection, this step may require finding records in the bordering English counties of Hampshire to the west, Berkshire and Middlesex to the north, Kent to the east, or Sussex to the south. If the individual lived in the northeastern part of Surrey, a thorough search of London records might be necessary. Note that marriages usually took place in the parish where the bride resided.
 * Look at the actual image of the record to verify the information found in the index, if possible.
 * 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 on nonconformist records.

Citing this Collection
Citing sources correctly makes it easier to refer back to information that has already been discovered; proper citations are therefore indispensable to keeping track of genealogical research. Following established formulae in formatting citations also allows others to verify completed research by helping them find and examine records for themselves.

To be of use, citations must include information such as the author, custodian, publisher, and archive for the original records, if available. The following examples demonstrate how to present this information, and can serve as templates for creating proper citations for both this particular collection and individual records and images within the collection:

Collection citation: Record citation (or citation for the index entry): Image citation: