England Roman Catholic Parish Registers Browse

The records in this collection have been made available by from various Archdiocesan and Diocesan Archives in England, Findmypast is dedicated to adding further dioceses to this collection of Roman Catholic records. There are records available from 1657 until 1907. The Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales placed a 110-year closure period on all sacramental records. Most of the records available here are from the 19th century..

With each volume, you can browse through the sacramental registers from beginning to end. The detail found in each volume will defer depending on the type of register you are viewing. Earlier registers recorded numerous events in one volume, for example, you may find baptisms, marriages, and burials all listed in one volume together. To search for your ancestor by name, select on the indexed record sets available in the Useful links and resources section. Below are lists of the details that may be available for each register type.

Baptisms

• Birth date

• Baptism date

• Church

• Parish

• Father’s name

• Mother’s name

• Godparents

• Priest

Marriages

• Marriage date

• Church

• Parish

• Spouse’s name

• Spouse’s parish

• Father’s name

• Spouse’s father’s name

• Witnesses’ names

• Priest

Burials

• Age

• Death date

• Burial date

• Church

Congregational

The documents in this collection include anniversary books, confirmation lists, congregational lists, lists of benefactors and converts, parish diaries, and more. Most records will list the individual’s name, date or year of the event, and contain additional remarks related to the event.

Many of the registers will be written in Latin. Latin was the language of the Roman Catholic Church until the 1960s. Below are common Latin words you may find in the registers.

• Aetati - age

• Anno Domino – year of Our Lord

• Baptizandi - baptized

• Cognomen - surname

• Die mensis – day of month

• Domicilium - residence

• Filium / Filiam - son or daughter

• Matrimonium – the sacrament of Holy Matrimony or marriage

• Matrina fuit - godmother was

• Mensis - month

• Natus - birth

• Nomina parentum – the names of parents

• Observanda – observations or notes

• Patrinus fuit - godfather was

• Praesntibus testibus – their presence as witnesses

• Sepultum est - buried in

• Sponsoribus – sponsors

• You can search by year, event type and place.

• Use the previous and next arrows or the image counter in the image viewer to navigate through a given register.

• If you wish to search transcripts of these records, which will allow you to search by names, follow the links in the Useful links and resources section.