Staffordshire Church Records - Location, Guides & Indexes

The majority of parish registers for the county are deposited at Staffordshire Record Office, although some may be found in the smaller archive repositories in the county or in adjacent county record offices where boundaries have changed. The main repository for Bishop's Transcripts is Lichfield Record Office.
Nonconformist registers for the county are deposited in many repositories including the National Archives, Staffordshire Record Office and the other archive departments in the county.

Many parish registers for the county have been transcribed and published, originally by the Staffordshire Parish Register Society (SPRS), and more recently by Midland Ancestors (formerly The Birmingham & Midland Society for Genealogy & Heraldry), in conjunction with the SPRS. They have also undertaken a program of reprinting the earlier SPRS volumes which is ongoing.

Detailed information on deposited registers and transcripts may be found on the individual parish pages.

The FreeREG project aims to make all parish register records available in a free searchable database. This is an ongoing project .
The FreeREG Pages gives details of the current coverage of parish registers for Staffordshire

Find My Past in conjuction with the SRO have digitised most of the Staffordshire parish registers and original images are available to view and download. This is a subscription site but the indexes can be viewed free of charge.
The FMP index gives details of the current coverage of parish registers for Staffordshire

The Society of Genealogists ' National Index of Parish Registers. Volume 6, Part 1 Staffordshire', compiled by Peter Bloore (1992) 100 p. [ISBN 0 946789 29 0] is "A Guide to Anglican, Roman Catholic and Non-Conformist registers, together with information on Bishop's Transcripts, modern copies and Marriage licences." This is the most detailed of the available guides and includes date coverage and location of registers, copies, transcripts and indexes and IGI coverage. Due to the date of compilation, some details are now out of date with regard to recently deposited registers etc.

The Staffordshire & Stoke on Trent Archive Services ' Guide to Sources, No 1. Parish Registers and Bishops Transcripts', (1999) 81 p. [ISBN 0 946602 24 7] has the latest details on the holdings of Anglican Parish registers at Staffordshire Record Office and Bishops Transcripts at Lichfield Record Office.

The Staffordshire & Stoke on Trent Archive Services ' Nonconformist Registers', (1996) contains details on the Nonconformist Registers deposited at Staffordshire Record Office.

Nonconformist registers held by the National Archives

'Catholic Missions & Registers 1700-1880. Volume 2, The Midlands and East Anglia', compiled by Michael Gandy (1993) 78 p. [ISBN 0 9520535 2 7] gives details of Staffordshire Catholic mission registers (and 16 other counties) and includes date coverage and location of registers.

Microfilm copies of many registers are in the Family History Library of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. They are listed on-line in the FamilySearch Family History Library Catalog which is also available from their Distribution Centres for purchase as a CDROM. Microfilms can be ordered for viewing at any Family History Centre of the LDS Church world-wide.

Midland Ancestors have compiled the Staffordshire Marriage Index which is complete for all surviving registers in the county up to 1837. Details of search procedures (fee payable) can be found on the Midland Ancestors pages.

Midland Ancestors have compiled the  Black Country Burial Index which covers the period 1838 to circa 1920 . Details of search procedures (fee payable) can be found on the Midland Ancestors pages.

The National Burial Index (NBI) has been published on CDROM by the Family History Federation. The Birmingham & Midland Society for Genealogy & Heraldry has contributed indexes for the three counties that it covers (Warwickshire, Worcestershire & Staffordshire). The Third edition has now been published and contains around 800,000 Staffordshire records relating to 253 parishes.

• The FHF index to Staffordshire parish registers contained in the National Burial Index (NBI)

   

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has two major sets of indexes of registers:

• The International Genealogical Index (IGI) covers many Staffordshire marriage and baptism registers. It is available free on-line within FamilySearch, is available on CDROM at Family History Centers of the LDS Church and other libraries, and earlier versions are available on microfiche. Hugh Wallis provides a list of Batch Numbers and Parishes in the IGI .

   

• The British Vital Records Index (2nd Edition) (VRI) includes baptisms and marriages for 108 registers in Staffordshire. It is available for purchase as a set of 16 inexpensive CDs covering the British Isles, from Distribution Centers of the LDS Church. Contact a Family History Center to find the one nearest to you.

   

• An index to Staffordshire parish registers contained in the British Vital Records Index (2nd Edition) (VRI)

   

• For reference an index to Staffordshire parish registers contained in the British VRI (1st Edition)
  Note: all records in the 1st edition should be included in the 2nd edition.

   

Ted Wildy's UK Marriage witness index has some entries for Staffordshire.
The Staffordshire file is listed as "ukwitsts.zip"

The Searchable Library Catalogue of the library of the Society of Genealogists includes details of Stafforshire Parish Register copies held by the society.

The Diocese of Lichfield Website allows users to find churches & clergy in the diocese.