There are over 700,000 transcripts in this record set. While the amount of information varies, the records usually include the following information:
These records were transcribed from the original Hampshire parish records by volunteer staff at Hampshire Genealogical Society.
Parish records are vital to researching your family history since censuses and official birth, marriage, and death records only go back to 1837, when civil registration was instated. However, the requirement for parish priests to maintain a weekly register of baptisms, marriages, and deaths began in 1538 following King Henry VIII's split from the Roman Catholic Church. A fine was put in place for failure to comply, and from 1733, entries had to be written in English instead of Latin.
Jane Austen, famous author of such beloved titles as Pride & Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility, was buried in the year 1817 in the parish of Winchester Cathedral. As well as being Austen’s literary agent, her brother Henry was also an Anglican clergyman. Due to his connections with the church, Henry was able to have Austen buried in the nave of Winchester Cathedral.
You might notice that Austen’s birth year is listed here as 1776 while in Hampshire Baptisms it is listed as 1775. This is an important reminder to take into account human error in historic records and, therefore, search a range of dates when looking for your ancestors.
Austen’s eldest brother can also be found in these records: James Austen died 18 December 1819 at the age of 54 in the parish of Steventon.
Hampshire Burials was sourced from Hampshire Genealogical Society