Genealogy Chat

How would I go about finding if my Dad was christened or not? He was born in Dalston, London in 1908 and I assume that he was christened in a nearby C. of E church, or not as the case may be. I have my Dad's d.o.b.,parents name, address. What I need to know is where and how to look. I'm also hoping to find his sisters whose names and d.o.b.'s I don't know for sure. I may have the names and some year ranges but need to verify them first. Any suggestions would be brilliant as I have no other information and don't know what to do. Regards Viv

I don't know what Dalston is like, but Croydon has had over a hundred places of worship. Parishes were subdivided like mad, then reamalgamated. A friend resorted to maps and street directories and visits to the local studies library to track them all down. London Metropolitan Archives is probably the best place to start. Check their website. The records may well be deposited, particularly in an urban setting, but there's no guarantee. Brenda

I would imagine that the record of baptisms in that area are kept at the Family Record Centre in London or the London Metropolitan Archives. You would have to search through the records for a couple of months or so after the birth, at the churches that are nearest where he was born (most of my lot were christened quite soon after birth). If you don't live near London you could put a message on the Record Office Board and ask if someone who was going could look it up for you. Best Wishes Kath

Hallo Viv! Just to clarify the above posting, the Family Record Centre DOES NOT HAVE ANY CHURCH RECORDS. It has civil registration indexes and censuses. I've done a google and the parish registers for Dalston are definitely at the London Metropolitan Archives - which is about 5 minutes walk from the FRC. nell

In my experience, records after 1900 are still at the church in question. Viewing them is by request to the vicar etc, usually a donation or a fixed fee is asked in return. Best we had was the RC church in Burton where the priest let us use his office and brought us coffee and offered to help with the Latin translation. PS, there not all this nice Margaret

Can only speak for the L.M.A. but most of the Church records they hold for baptisms and marriages go well into the 1920's/1930's and quite a few up to the 1970'S. Jean x.

I suppose this will depend on how busy a church is, if the book is still in use then it will still be at the church. I know one of our local churches still has books from 1900 and the church where both my daughters were christened in 1984 and 1987 still has the same book as 1960. My daughters were underneath one another in the register even though they are 2 and a half years apart. London churches and othe cities will be busier but not small towns and villages. Margaret

Thank you all for your help, just need to find which church first! LOL Viv