Find your ancestors in British India Office births & baptisms ecclesiastical returns

The ecclesiastical returns are contemporary copies of registers of baptisms, marriages and burials sent to London for the information of the East India Company and the India Office. The practice was begun by the chaplains of the East India Company's principal settlements and became a regular feature of the British administration in India.

The records relate almost entirely to European and Eurasian Christians; few local converts are included. It is thought that approximately seventy-five per cent of the information recorded in India was sent to London.

The ecclesiastical returns include people from all walks of life: civil servants, army and navy personnel, medical officers, scientists, business people, traders, travellers, missionaries.

Births after 1915

In compliance with data protection laws fewer details and no images are available for births dating to after 1915. Full details are available to researchers who visit the British Library in person.