Barbados Church Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

Barbados

What is in This Collection?
This collection of church records covers the years 1637-1887. It includes baptisms, marriages, and deaths for the Anglican Church during the years 1637-1850. Baptism, marriage, and death records for other denominations span from 1660-1887. The exact coverage will vary from one denomination to another.

Church records of Barbados are a reliable source for early genealogical research in Barbados. Civil registration through the government began in 1890 (for births and marriages) and 1925 (for deaths). For events after these years, you should search both civil and church records and compare the information.

The Anglican Church, originally referred to as the Church of England, was the first official religion in Barbados. The original Diocese of Barbados and the Leeward and Windward Islands established in 1824 was subsequently divided into different dioceses:
 * Guyana in 1842
 * Antigua in 1842
 * Trinidad in 1872
 * Windward Islands in 1879 (which continued to be administered to by the Bishop of Barbados until 1930)

Together with the Dioceses of Jamaica (created in 1824), Nassau and the Bahamas (created in 1861), and Belize (formerly British Honduras, created in 1891), these congregations make up the Anglican Province of the West Indies.

Nonconformist churches such as Moravian, Baptist, and Methodist churches began to be established in the 1780s and may also be a useful source of family records. Other religions in Barbados include Wesleyan, Catholic, Jewish, and miscellaneous non-Anglican congregations.

What Can These Records Tell Me?
The information in these records usually include the following:

Baptism
 * Place of event
 * Date of event
 * Name of child
 * Parents' names
 * Grandparents' names
 * Godparents' names

Marriage
 * Place and date of the event
 * Names of bride and groom
 * Personal information of bride and groom
 * Parents of bride and groom
 * Place of residence

Death or burial
 * Date and place of death
 * Name of the deceased person
 * Sometimes the parents or spouse names of the deceased person
 * Cause of death
 * Burial place

Coverage Table
The following table gives the number of records by event type for each place in this collection.

How Do I Search This Collection?
Before searching these records, it would be helpful if you knew the following information:
 * Names of individuals associated with the event (child, parents, spouses, etc)
 * Approximate year and place of event
 * Religion of your ancestor

How Do I Analyze the Results?
Compare each result from your search with what you know to determine if there is a match. This may require viewing multiple records or images. Keep track of your research in a research log.

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

 * If possible, use what you know to find an image of the original record. The index contains only basic identifying information for a person; the original record therefore may contain more information not found in the index
 * Continue to search the index for family members
 * Use the parents’ birth places to find former residences and to establish a migration pattern for the family
 * Compile the marriage entries for every person who has the same surname as the bride or groom; this is especially helpful in rural areas or if the surname is unusual
 * Continue to search the marriage records to identify children, siblings, parents, and other relatives of the bride and groom who may have married in the same county or nearby. This can help you identify other generations of *your family or even the second marriage of a parent. Repeat this process for each new generation you identify
 * Use the marriage number to identify previous marriages

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

 * Check for variants of given names and surnames. It was not uncommon for an individual to be listed under a nickname, middle name, or abbreviation of their given name
 * Search the records of nearby locations. In the period of this collection, few individuals ever lived more than 20 miles from their place of birth, though smaller moves were common
 * When looking for a person who had a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is correct
 * The "All Parishes" section of the browse includes the names of other religions that your ancestor may be listed in
 * Check for variant spellings of the surnames

Research Helps
The following articles will help you in your research for your family in Barbados.
 * Barbados Church Records
 * Barbados Civil Registration

Related Family History Library Holdings

 * Barbados parochial registers, Series A, 1637-1850 (Anglican)
 * Barbados parochial registers, Series A, 1660-1887 (Other denominations)
 * Barbados parochial registers, Series B, 1849-1912

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.

Barbados, Registros da Igreja (Registros Históricos do FamilySearch)