Parish registers

Introduction

Parish registers record baptisms, marriages, burials and banns in the Church of England.

The registers may begin in 1538, although some early registers have not survived.

Most Norfolk parishes have deposited their registers with us at the Norfolk Record Office (NRO).

We also hold registers of some 19 Suffolk parishes in the deanery of Lothingland, an area stretching from Great Yarmouth to Lowestoft.

Many of the registers have been microfilmed, to preserve them for the future.

You can see these microfilms and fiche at the NRO and most are also available at the Norfolk Heritage Centre (NHC).

Where registers have not been microfilmed, you can usually see the original volumes.

Some registers are still held by the churches themselves. For a list of parish registers held by us, organised by parish and indicating which registers have been filmed, see our Summary of Church of England Parish Registers and Transcripts (PDF) [3MB].