Many opportunities exist to find new family names for temple work in English records. Countless birth, marriage, and death records FamilySearch[1] was unable to acquire in our parents’ generation are now indexed and available for free online thanks to our partners Ancestry and findmypast and volunteer indexers on websites like FamilySearch, FreeBMD, FreeREG, One-Name Studies, One-Place Studies, Online Parish Clerks, and the Register of One-Place Studies. The purpose of this article is to help you select ancestors on your English pedigree to study who lived in certain places or time periods that are likely to result in quick success for finding temple work.
1800s-1900s
Censuses and civil registration of births, marriages, and deaths yield many new names for temple work, especially for relatives of nineteenth-century LDS converts who remained in England. Censuses and civil registration indexes are all online, see:
Please bear in mind the 110-year rule for submitting names to the temple. Permission is required to submit cousins born 1905 to the present.
1600s-1800s
Parish registers and wills yield a great deal of family information during this period and specific counties in England are hotspots for temple work. Here are recommended resources for 11 counties that were not heavily extracted. Were your ancestors from any of these counties?
- Cheshire
- England, Cheshire Bishop’s Transcripts (1598-1900) FamilySearch website
- Cheshire Diocese of Chester Parish Baptisms (1538-1911) findmypast website
- Cheshire Diocese of Chester Bishop’s Transcripts Baptisms (1576-1906) findmypast website
- Cheshire Diocese of Chester Parish Marriages (1538-1910) findmypast website
- Cheshire Diocese of Chester Bishop’s Transcripts Marriages (1576-1906) findmypast website
- Cheshire Marriage Licence Bonds and Allegations (1606-1905) findmypast website
- Cheshire Diocese of Chester Bishop’s Transcripts Burials (1576-1906) findmypast website
- Cheshire Diocese of Chester Parish Burials (1538-1911) findmypast website
- England, Cheshire Non-conformist Records (1671-1900) FamilySearch website
- Cheshire Non-Conformist & Roman Catholic Registers (Baptism) 17th Century-1910 findmypast website
- Cheshire, Non-Conformist & Roman Catholic Registers (Marriages) 17th Century-1910 findmypast website
- Cheshire Non-Conformist & Roman Catholic Registers (Burials) 17th Century-1910 findmypast website
- England, Cheshire Parish Registers (1538-2000) FamilySearch website
- Cheshire Wills and Probate (1660-1911) findmypast website
- Devon
- Devon Baptisms (1444-1915) findmypast website
- Devon Marriages (1446-2002) findmypast website
- Devon Marriage Banns Registers (1538-1915) findmypast website
- Devon Burials (1320-1988) findmypast website
- England, Devon, Parish Registers (1538-1912) FamilySearch website
- Devon Wills Index (1163-1999) findmypast website
- Kent
- Kent Baptisms (1538-1912) findmypast website
- Kent Marriages (1538-1970) findmypast website
- Kent Marriage Banns (1653-1962) findmypast website
- Kent Burials (1538-2006) findmypast website
- Medway Ancestors website
- Kent Marriage Index (1813-1837) postal order
- West Kent Marriage Index (1538-1812) postal order
- East Kent Marriage Index (1538-1754) postal order
- East Kent Marriage Index (1754-1812) postal order
- Mid-Kent Marriage Index (1754-1911) free website
- East Kent Burial Index (1802-1846) findmypast website
- Kent Wills & Probate Indexes (1328-1890) findmypast website
- England, Kent, Wills and Probate (1440-1881) FamilySearch website
- England, Kent, Bishop’s Transcripts (1560-1911) FamilySearch website
- Lancashire
- Online Parish Clerks website
- Lancashire, England, Baptisms, Marriages and Burials (1538-1812) Ancestry website
- Lancashire, England, Births and Baptisms (1813-1911) Ancestry website
- Lancashire, England, Marriages and Banns (1754-1936) Ancestry website
- Lancashire, England, Deaths and Burials (1813-1986) Ancestry website
- Liverpool, England, Baptisms, Marriages and Burials (1659-1812) Ancestry website
- Liverpool, England, Baptisms (1813-1906) Ancestry website
- Liverpool, England, Marriages and Banns (1813-1921) Ancestry website
- Liverpool, England, Burials (1813-1974) Ancestry website
- England, Lancashire, Parish Registers (1538-1910) FamilySearch website
- Lancashire Will Search website
- Leicestershire
- Middlesex
- London, England, Baptisms, Marriages and Burials (1538-1812) Ancestry website
- London, England, Births and Baptisms (1813-1906) Ancestry website
- London, England, Marriages and Banns (1754-1921) Ancestry website
- London, England, Deaths and Burials (1813-1980) Ancestry website
- Middlesex Baptisms – Cliff Web findmypast website
- Middlesex Marriage Index findmypast website
- West Middlesex Marriage Index findmypast website
- Westminster Baptisms findmypast website
- Westminster Marriages findmypast website
- Westminster Burials findmypast website
- England, Middlesex, Westminster, Parish Registers (1538-1912) FamilySearch website
- Norfolk
- Northamptonshire
- FreeREG website
- Northamptonshire, England, Baptisms, 1813-1912 Ancestry website
- Northamptonshire Birth & Baptism Index (1650-1699) CD
- Northamptonshire Birth & Baptism (1700-1750) CD
- Northamptonshire Birth & Baptism Index: C of E and Non Conformist (1751-1812) CD
- Northamptonshire C of E Baptism Index (1813-1843) CD
- Partial Northamptonshire Marriage Index (Pre-1700) CD
- Northamptonshire Marriage Index (1700-1837) CD
- Northamptonshire Marriage Index (1837-1860) CD
- Northamptonshire Marriage Index (1851-1860) CD
- Northamptonshire Marriages (1538-1975) findmypast website
- Northamptonshire, England, Burials, 1813-1912 Ancestry website
- Northamptonshire C of E Burial Index (1700-1812) CD
- Northamptonshire C of E Burial Index (1813-1865) CD
- Northamptonshire Burials (1440-1975) findmypast website
- Northamptonshire and Rutland Probate Index (1400s-1858) findmypast website
- Rutland
- Rutland Parish Registers (1538-1800s) CD
- Northamptonshire, England, Baptisms, 1813-1912 Ancestry website (includes Rutland)
- Rutland Marriage Index (1538-1754) CD
- Rutland Marriage Index (1754-1837) CD
- Northamptonshire, England, Burials, 1813-1912 Ancestry website (includes Rutland)
- Northamptonshire and Rutland Probate Index (1400s-1858) findmypast website
- Somerset
- Suffolk
Wills for the period 1400s to 1800s produce many new names for temple work in all English counties. They often predate a town or village’s earliest birth, marriage, and death records (parish registers). The Family History Library has most English wills on microfilm, some counties are now online, and the indexes listed above can help you quickly locate wills of interest.
Medieval
Temple work has been conducted for only a small portion of the people of medieval England. Probably less than 5% have completed ordinances. The focus has been mainly on nobility and gentry. For the remainder of the population, wills, poll taxes, and manorial court records (written in abbreviated Latin) help reconstruct medieval families. All pre-1500 submissions must be cleared through the Medieval Families Unit.
[1] Formerly the Genealogical Society of Utah.
This article is dedicated to Richard Price, MA, AG, President of Price and Associates Genealogical Services who introduced me to the idea of temple work hotspots in England.
Nathan Murphy
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This is great! Genuine help with finding records of ancestors is so very welcome. Thank you, thank you, thank you…a million times.