Jersey, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1540-1812

This collection contains images of Church of England composite registers of baptism, marriage, and burial records during the years 1540–1836 from the Island of Jersey.

Both the British government and the church had an interest in record keeping and a 1538 Act of Parliament required ministers in the Church of England to record baptisms, marriages, and burials. Jersey’s earliest registers date from this period with the church records of the parish St Saviour starting in 1540. There is no standard format to the early registers and preprinted registers were first used in Jersey in 1822. However some parishes did not begin using the standardised registers until civil registration was introduced in 1842. The records are predominantly written in French.

See the browse on the right to determine which parishes are included in this collection and the date coverage for each parish.

Baptisms:

child was baptised at home. The child’s Christian name is given, as well as the name of the father and from the mid-seventeenth century the mother’s maiden name. The registers usually include the names of the godparents, but few details are given about residence and occupation of the father unless he held a position of high social standing.

Marriages:

Marriage records typically include the name of the bride and groom, the date of the marriage and the parish of origin or residence of both parties. Very rarely is the occupation of the groom included or the parentage of either party.

Burials:

Burials took place within a few days of death and these early records typically record just the name of the deceased and the burial date. If an infant was being buried often the entry simply states, ‘fils de or filles de’, which means son or daughter of the father. Very rarely are the cause of death and age given and women are recorded firstly under their maiden name, with the name of their husband and marital status alongside.