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England Bristol

This collection includes indexed church records from the city of Bristol, covering the period 1538-1900. The originals are held at the Bristol Records Office.

In its most basic sense, a parish register is a local record of ordinances performed in the Church of England. Due to their long history and broad coverage, parish registers are central to English genealogical research as they are one of the only sources for finding individuals in England before civil registration began in 1837. To learn more about parish registers, see the English Parish Registers page.

Now an administrative county unto itself, Bristol has long been one of the major cities in southern England. It sits directly on the border between the counties of Somerset and Gloucestershire, and lies on the coast of the Bristol Channel, to which it lends its name. For a list of historical parishes in the city with links to more information about most of them, see the Bristol Parishes page.

What Does This Collection Contain?
This collection contains an index and images of baptismal, marriage, and burial records. A detailed summary of the types and locations of records in this collection is found in the England, Bristol Parish Registers Coverage Table.

How Do I Search This Collection?
Before beginning a search in these collection, it is best to know the following information:
 * Full name of the individual in question
 * General location of the event
 * Date range for the record

No matter the search method, this information is the best way to identify the correct person, though other information may be used if the name, location, and date are not all known.

Search the Index to This Collection
To find a person in the collection index using information which is already known, follow these steps:
 * 1) Go to the landing page for this collection.
 * 2) Enter the requested information into the search box and click Search. This should return a list of possible matches; if not, see the I Can't Find the Person I'm Looking for, What Now? section below.
 * 3) Look at the individuals in the list and decide any of them are the right person. This may require examining multiple people before a match is located.

Image Visibility
Whenever possible, FamilySearch makes images of digitized records available for all users. However, the rights to view images on this website are ultimately granted by the record custodians. Due to their restrictions, the images in this collection are not available for general viewing, but may be accessed at a local Family History Center, at the Family History Library, or online by members of the supporting organization(s).

For additional information about image restrictions, please see the Restrictions for Viewing Images in FamilySearch Historical Record Collections page.

I Found the Person I Was Looking for, What Now?

 * Make sure to fully record all the information given in the index entry. Also, do not forget to cite the record; see below for assistance citing records in this collection.
 * Whenever possible, look at an image of the original record. The online index entry generally lists only the most basic identifying information for an individual; the original record may contain further information which was not included in the index. Save or print a copy of the image.
 * If in the appropriate period, use the information which has been discovered to find the individual in civil records. Particularly useful for research in nineteenth-century England are the England Census and civil registration records.
 * Continue to search the index to identify children, siblings, parents, and other relatives. Remember that family members often appear on an individual's vital records, such as in the role of witnesses to a marriage.

I Can’t Find the Person I’m Looking for, What Now?
For additional help searching online collections see the FamilySearch Search Tips and Tricks page.
 * When looking for an individual with a common name, look at all the search results for the name before deciding which is the correct person. Use other information, such as place of birth, age, occupation, or names of parents, to make this decision. If listed, a personal title may be a clue to property ownership or occupation, either of which might be noted in other records.
 * Try variations of given names and surnames. An individual might appear under a different name in a record for a variety of reasons:
 * An individual might have been listed under a middle name, nickname, or abbreviation of their given name.
 * Spelling was not standardized for much of the period of this collection, so names were often spelled as recorders heard them. Pay attention to how the name should have been pronounced and try spelling variations that could have that pronunciation.
 * Some women returned to their maiden names after the death of their husbands.
 * Vary the search terms. For example, search by either the given name or surname to return broader list of results which can then be examined for matches. Try expanding the date range as well; this is especially useful in searching baptismal records, as it was not unusual for a child to be baptized weeks or even months after birth.
 * Search the records of nearby locations. In the period of this collection, most people never moved more than 20 miles away from the place of their birth, though smaller relocations were not uncommon. For this collection, some potential nearby locations are the areas of Somerset and Gloucestershire bordering Bristol, or perhaps even in the Welsh county of Monmouthshire directly across the channel.

Citing this Collection
Citing sources correctly makes it easier to refer back to information which has already been discovered; proper citations are therefore key to keeping track of genealogical research. Correct citations also allow others to check completed research by helping them find and examine records for themselves.

Below are the proper citations to use for this collection as well as for individual records and images within the collection:

Image Citation
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