Norfolk Church Records

Most parishes have deposited their older registers of baptisms, banns, marriages and burials at the Norfolk Record Office (NRO) in Norwich, which also holds Bishop's and Archdeacons' Transcripts. Records for some parishes in the west of the county are at the Wisbech and Fenland Museum (parishes in the deaneries of Lynn Marshland and Wisbech) or the Cambridgeshire Record Office (Welney parish).

Nonconformist registers have been deposited at the Public Record Office, near London. Many have been microfilmed and are available at libraries, record offices and LDS centres.

For Catholic records see: Gandy, Michael (compiler): Catholic Missions and Registers 1700-1880.
Volume 2, The Midlands and East Anglia.
[ISBN 0952053527, 1993]

Microform copies of original registers, transcripts, indexes, etc, are quite widely available. See the list below for more information.

Baptisms, Banns, Marriages and Burials

Norfolk Record Office: List of Parish Registers and Transcripts
This lists the NRO's holdings of original registers, Archdeacons' and Bishop's transcripts, modern published and unpublished transcripts and indexes.
Norfolk FHS: List of Parish Register Transcripts
This lists the transcriptions made by members of the Norfolk FHS of baptisms, banns, marriages and burials.
FreeREG: Norfolk Baptism, Marriage and Burial Transcriptions
FreeREG is a project to transcribe the baptism, marriage and burial records from parish and non-conformist registers in the UK, and put them online in a free searchable database.
Mid-Norfolk FHS: List of Publications.
Society of Genealogists: List of Parish Registers and Transcripts
The Society of Genealogists' Library holds copies of many Norfolk registers and transcriptions.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has microform copies of many records. These can be viewed in their Family History Libraries worldwide, and are listed in the FamilySearch Family History Library Catalogue.

Baptisms

Norfolk Baptism Project 1813 to 1880

Baptisms and Marriages

LDS: International Genealogical Index (IGI)
This is quite limited in its coverage of Norfolk records. Apart from the online search above, it may also be seen at libraries and LDS Family History Centers.
To limit searches to particular parishes it is necessary to know the LDS Batch Numbers. See:
- IGI Batch Numbers for Norfolk.
- To identify other batch numbers see Finding LDS Batch Numbers
LDS: BVRI: The British Vital Records Index (Second Edition), on CDROM, contains baptisms and marriages for a few Norfolk parishes. It includes the parishes which were in the First Edition. Most are Church of England records, but there are some Nonconformist records. The parishes are:
Aylmerton, Barningham Northwood, Brandiston, Crownthorpe, Dunston, Hemblington, Hemsby, Houghton-in-the-Hole (ie Houghton St Giles), Lakenham, Lammas (ie Buxton Lammas), Langford, Norwich (St Martin at Oak, St Peter Mountergate), Riddlesworth and Gasthorpe, Roydon near Diss, Runton, Sprowston, Sprowston and Beeston, Stanford, Stoke Holy Cross, Tofts West, Walsingham Great, Welney, and Great Yarmouth (St Andrew, St Nicholas, St Peter).
See BVRI Norfolk Parishes: Births and Christenings
and BVRI Norfolk Parishes: Marriages
for full details, including the dates covered.

Marriages

Boyd's Marriage Index: 1538-1837
- This is an index to English marriages that was created by Percival Boyd. It contains marriages in 275 Norfolk parishes (about 40% of the total), from parish registers, marriage licences and Bishop's Transcripts. The dates covered are from 1538 to 1837, though these vary for each parish depending on the availability and survival of records.
- The index contains the surname and forename of the bride and groom, the year and the parish, and may be abbreviated. It is always necessary to check the original entry.
- There is an online list of Norfolk parishes and the years covered.
- There is a published list of parishes and the years covered in:
  List of Parishes in Boyd's Marriage Index.
  [Society of Genealogists, 1994]
- The Index is available on microform at libraries, record offices and LDS centres, and on British Origins on a pay-to-view basis.
Phillimore's Marriage Registers: 1538-1837
- Norfolk Parishes in Phillimore's Marriage Registers.
Norfolk FHS Marriage Index: 1801-1837
- The Norfolk Marriage Index CD for 1801 to 1837 includes marriages from the 705 Norfolk parishes having relevant records, plus 25 Suffolk parishes mostly in the area around Lowestoft.

Burials

The National Burial Index (NBI) has been published on CDROM by the Federation of Family History Societies. There are about 105,000 Norfolk entries, mainly for the parishes around East Dereham, contributed by the Mid-Norfolk FHS. See the list of Parishes and Dates.
Mid-Norfolk FHS: Burial Index
This is part of the National Burial Index Project. It contains entries taken from the Parish Burial Registers for the parishes within a 10 mile radius of East Dereham. The Mid-Norfolk FHS will undertake searches (for a fee).
Ashmolean Brass Rubbings Collection.
Rubbings of Monumental Brasses in Norfolk parishes.
Dates are from 1347 to 1654 (with one of 1737) but mainly 15th and 16th centuries. There are very few surnames given.

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