Parish registers are often considered to be the core family history source held at RBA. They are the predecessors to birth, marriage and death certificates: a church record of a baptism, marriage or burial. If you are lucky, they survive from 1538.

There are around 200 ancient parishes in Berkshire: we hold the registers for all but one. Taken together with around 100 Victorian or later parishes, if you have Berkshire ancestors, you may be able to discover nearly 500 years of family history.

The English parish church was a key secular institution until the Victorian period. It was responsible for poor relief, running local charities, and even local roads and law enforcement. As a result, the ‘parish chest’ contains a lot more than just the registers.

In association with Ancestry, parish registers have been digitised resulting in over 4 million searchable entries. You can access the collections via the links below with an Ancestry subscription.

Berkshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1538-1812

Berkshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, 1813-1925

Berkshire, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1813-1941

Berkshire, England, Church of England Burials, 1813-1998

If you do not have a subscription with Ancestry, you can access it onsite at the RBA free of charge through our library subscription. Just ask to book a computer.

See our Planning a Visit Page for details on how to book.

Berkshire Family History Society volunteers have indexed many of the parish registers within our collections and these are searchable online via the subscription website Find My Past.