Barbados Church Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

Record Description
This collection of church records includes the years 1637-1887.

This collection of church records includes baptisms, marriages, and deaths for the Anglican Church during the years 1637-1850, and for other denominations the years 1660-1887.

Church records are created by an authorized priest, so the events in the life of parishioners may be kept in registers for preservation and future use.

The Anglican and other Church records of Barbados are a reliable source for genealogical research. For research after the civil registration implementation of birth and marriages in 1890 and for deaths in 1925, it is suggested to research both civil and church records and to compare the information.

The Anglican Church, which originally was 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 five: Guyana in 1842 and Antigua in 1842, Trinidad in 1872, Windward Islands in 1879. Windward Islands continued to be administered by the Bishop of Barbados until 1930. These five together with the Dioceses of Jamaica created in 1824, Nassau and the Bahamas in 1861 and Belize (formerly British Honduras) in 1891 make up the Anglican Province of the West Indies.

The events of baptism, marriage, and death in the life of their parishioners were recorded in registers, where the record was handwritten in English and kept in the parish archive.

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

For a list of records by parishes, events and dates currently published in this collection, select the Browse. link from collection landing page.

Record Content
Baptism records usually include the following information:


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

Marriage records usually include the following information:


 * 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 records usually include the following information:


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

How to Use the Record
To search for baptism records, it would be helpful if you knew the following information:


 * Name of parents
 * Approximate year of birth
 * Name of religion

To search for marriage records, it would be helpful if you knew the following information:


 * Name of bride or groom
 * Approximate year of marriage
 * Name of religion

To search for burial records, it would be helpful if you knew the following information:


 * Name of deceased
 * Approximate year of death
 * Name of religion

Search the Collection
Indexes are available on some of these groups of images. Indexes are usually located at the beginning of a group of images or at the end. Find your ancestors name and look for the locator information next to the name (such as page, entry, or certificate number). This will help you find the record you are looking for in the collection.

To search the collection image by image select "Browse through images" on the initial collection page: ⇒ Select the appropriate "Parish" ⇒ Select the appropriate "Denomination" ⇒ Select the appropriate "Record Type and Year Range" which will take you to the images.

Look at each image one by one comparing the information with what you already know about your ancestors to determine which one is your ancestor. You may need to compare the information about more than one person to make this determination.

Using the Information

 * Use the marriage date and place as the basis for compiling a new family group or for verifying existing information.
 * Use the birth date or age along with the place of birth of each partner to find a couple's birth records and parents' names.
 * Use the residence and names of the parents to locate church and land records.
 * 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.
 * When looking for a person who had a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is correct.

When you have located your ancestor’s record, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details that can lead you to other records about your ancestors. Add this new information to your records of each family.

Tips to Keep in Mind

 * The information in church records is usually reliable, but depends upon the reliability of the informant.
 * Earlier records may not contain as much information as the records created after the late 1800.
 * There is also some variation in the information given from one record to another.
 * The "All Parishes" section of the browse includes the names of other religions that your ancestor may be listed in.

Unable to Find Your Ancestor?

 * Check for variant spellings of the surnames.
 * Check for a different index. There are often indexes at the beginning of each volume.
 * Search the indexes and records of nearby localities.

Related Websites
Anglican Diocese of Barbados

Related Wiki Articles
Barbados Church Records

Citing FamilySearch Historical Collections
Citations for individual image records are available for this collection. Browse through images in this collection and click on the "Show Citation" box: Barbados, Church Records, 1637-1887

When you copy information from a record, you should list where you found the information. This will help you or others to find the record again. It is also good to keep track of records where you did not find information, including the names of the people you looked for in the records.

A suggested format for keeping track of records that you have searched is found in the wiki article Help:How to Cite FamilySearch Collections.

Citation for This Collection
The following citation refers to the original source of the information published in FamilySearch.org Historical Record collections. Sources include the author, custodian, publisher and archive for the original records.

Suggested citation format for a record in this collection.