VPRS 7292 Index to Early Church Records

Official (government) registration of births, deaths and marriages commenced in 1853. Prior to this date records of baptisms (births), burials (deaths) and marriages were kept by churches. After 1853 these records were required to be sent to the Registrar-General's Office. It is believed that not all churches complied with this provision and that many church records were either destroyed or remained with the churches.This series includes a microfiche copy of an index to those Early Church Records received at the Registrar-General's Office and the hardcopy index consisting of five volumes, with some entries appearing in more than one book.It is not known when the index books were compiled. The end date of the series date range is derived from the date of creation of the microfiche (circa 1985). The books were probably created by Births, Deaths and Marriages (BDM) long before that date.The original microfiche was made by BDM; the Public Record Office had some duplicates generated subsequently.