Buckinghamshire, England, Extracted Church of England Parish Records, 1535-1812

This database is a collection of historical parish registers from Buckinghamshire, England. Parish records--primarily baptisms, marriages, and burials--provide the best source of vital record information in the centuries before civil registration. All of the data was transcribed as it was originally presented in various published registers and books. For this reason, you will find interesting phonetic spellings and large descriptive tables of contents.

What should I know about this collection?

Due to the nature of the records and because the records were originally compiled by a third party, it is difficult to absolutely verify the completeness and validity of the data.

Historical Context
A large number of parish records date from the sixteenth century, when a series of mandates required clergy to compile records of baptisms, marriages, and burials within the parish, and to send an annual copy to the Bishop. Essentially, there are two sets of records: the parish copy and the copy the clergyman sent to the Bishop each year, known as Bishops Transcripts. Many records were destroyed, lost, or simply not kept during the Civil War (1642-1660). Of the surviving records, many have since been transcribed and collected by genealogical societies. The records are a valuable resource for finding vital information of people of the time. The content of the records may vary between the two sets.

Civil registration of births, deaths, and marriage, often called General Registration, began in July of 1837. It provides a national vital records index that simplifies searches and includes people who may not have been associated with a church. The civil records are more readily available than parish records (parish records after 1837 often aren't filmed) and are easier to use. But many births went unrecorded in the early years of civil registration, so parish records are still extremely valuable.

Buckinghamshire: Fenny Stratford - St. Martin's Chapel, 1730-1812
Buckinghamshire: Newton Longville - Parish Register, 1560-1840
Buckinghamshire: - Registers of Marriages, 1552-1812
Buckinghamshire: - Registers of Marriages, 1582-1812
Buckinghamshire: - Registers of Marriages, 1605-1837
Buckinghamshire: - Registers of Marriages, 1558-1837
Buckinghamshire: Little Woolstone - Parish Registers, 1596-1813
Buckinghamshire: Great Woolstone - Parish Registers, 1538-1811
Buckinghamshire: Chesham - Parish Register, 1538-1636