Hampshire Baptism Index 1660 – 1751

Background Historical Information

In 1538 Thomas Cromwell ordered that all parishes should keep a register of baptisms, marriages and burials. In 1597 an order signed by Elizabeth I required that these parish records had to be on parchment, and that previous entries going back to 1558 (the start of her reign) had to be copied into these registers. The content of early registers is often different, as it depended upon what the individual vicar wanted to record, and they were mostly written in Latin.

What will I find in this index?

It varies, depending on the parish and each individual vicar, but generally you can expect a surname and christian name, baptism date, the father’s name and possibly the mother’s forename. Annotations were often added if the child was illegitimate, these include ‘base-born’, ‘bastard child’ or ‘spurious’. Sometimes other notes were kept such as a father’s occupation or the family’s abode.

Children were usually baptised soon after birth, but you may find examples where children were baptised several years later.