England, Hampshire Parish Registers - FamilySearch Historical Records

What is in This Collection?
This collection contains baptismal, marriage, and burial records from the county of Hampshire for the years 1538-1980. Date ranges of available records may vary by locality.

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 important 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 Can These Records Tell Me?
Christening records may include the following:
 * Name
 * Christening date
 * Christening place
 * Gender
 * Names of parents

Marriage records may include the following:
 * Names of bride and groom
 * Marriage date
 * Marriage place
 * Marital status
 * Names of parents
 * Estimated year of birth

Burial records may include the following:
 * Name of the deceased
 * Burial date
 * Burial place
 * Age
 * Estimated birth year

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

 * 1) Go to the collection page.
 * 2) Enter the requested information into the search box.
 * 3) Click Search to return a list of possible matches.

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

 * Make sure to fully transcribe and cite the index entry for future reference; see below for assistance in citing this collection.
 * Use the information which has been discovered to find more. For instance, use the age listed in the record to estimate a year of birth, if that is yet undetermined.
 * 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 the England Civil Registration records.
 * Continue to search the index to identify children, siblings, parents, and other relatives. Remember 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 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 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 they were pronounced. Pay attention to how the name should have been pronounced and try spelling variations that could have that pronunciation.
 * Some women reverted to their maiden names after the death of their husbands.
 * 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 20 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 Dorsetshire and Wiltshire to the west, Berkshire to the north, or Surrey and Sussex to the south.
 * 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 the England Nonconformist Church Records page for more information.
 * Some parish records might have been lost over time. If possible, use Bishop's Transcripts as a substitute. See the Hampshire Bishop's Transcripts page 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 Citation (or citation for the index entry):