The Catholic Heritage Archive just got bigger

3-4 minute read

By Daisy Goddard | July 14, 2023

From baptisms to burials, there are over 325,000 exclusive new church records to explore this Findmypast Friday.

Only available online at Findmypast, the Catholic Heritage Archive has been bolstered by the addition of thousands of new parish records from the Diocese of Leeds this week.

Spanning 1757 to 1913, there are almost two centuries of history contained within these baptism, marriage, burial, and congregational records, making it easier than ever to chart the lives of your Yorkshire ancestors.

England Roman Catholic Parish Baptisms

First up, we added 24,3092 new baptisms this week, from the Leeds Diocese between 1757 and 1913.

From these images and transcriptions, you can expect to learn key information like a name, birth date, baptism date, church, parish, deanery, diocese, and county, as well as both parents' names.

Some original images include extra information like godparents' names, the name of the minister who performed the baptism, and the address of the person baptised. Be sure to check the original record to avoid missing out on these insightful snippets of detail.

England Roman Catholic Parish Marriages

There are now also 56,525 marriages records from the Diocese of Leeds for you to explore. Covering the years 1776-1913, discover almost two centuries of history within this updated set.

The information contained within these records varies slightly, but you can expect to learn key details like the spouses' names, the spouses' fathers' names, marriage date, parish, ecclesiastical province, and deanery, as well as the type of record and its archive reference. In some cases, the name of the priest who performed the service is included.

The registers that these records are taken from were recorded in either English or Latin, as Latin was the language of the Catholic Church until as late as the 1960s.

To ensure you understand common Latin words that show up in these marriage records, you can read the relevant information provided under the 'What can these records tell me?' information on the record set's search page. We'd also recommend checking out our handy blog on understanding Latin terms.

England Roman Catholic Parish Burials

If your ancestor died in Leeds between 1759 and 1913, you may just find their burial record within this week's new additions. We've added 26,195 Roman Catholic Burials for the Leeds Diocese, with both transcriptions and images of the original sacramental register.

St Anne's Cathedral, Leeds. Image credit: Ian S / Cathedral of St Anne, Leeds via Wikimedia Commons.

Detail included within these records varies, but you may be able to learn a name, age, birth and death date, burial date, church, parish and diocese. Be sure to consult the original record, to ensure you don't miss out on any important information.

England Roman Catholic Parish Congregational Records

The last of this week's exciting additions to the Catholic Heritage Archive is to our congregational records. Also for the Leeds Diocese, 152 original register images and transcriptions have been added, spanning from 1798 to 1845.

The detail found within each record varies depending on the nature of the document. In this set, you can expect to find a combination of some of these facts: name, age, birth date, event date, church, parish, diocese and deanery.

Over 43,000 new pages to explore

We've added three new titles to our newspaper collection this week, with additions that span across Britain and Ireland, from Walsall to Wexford.

Darlaston Weekly Times, one of this week's new titles.

But that's not all - we also updated a further 10 publications, meaning there's more stories to discover within our pages than ever before.

Here's the full list of this week's additions.

New titles:

Stowmarket Weekly Post, 1905-1917
Darlaston Weekly Times, 1882-1887
Waterford Citizen, 1871, 1885

Updated titles:

Crediton Gazette, 1882
Enniscorthy Echo and South Leinster Advertiser, 1917
Free Press (Wexford), 1912-1915, 1917-1921, 1923
Huddersfield and Holmfirth Examiner, 1861-1863, 1865-1867, 1870, 1872, 1939-1949, 1951, 1978-1979
Limerick Echo, 1903
Loughborough Herald & North Leicestershire Gazette, 1883, 1888
Newmarket Journal, 1921-1925, 1927-1928
Stalybridge Reporter, 1907
Stratford-upon-Avon Herald, 1964-1968
Suffolk and Essex Free Press, 1960, 1962-1963, 1980

Have you made an exciting discovery with your research? Whatever story you've uncovered, we'd love to hear about it. You can now get in touch and tell us directly, using this handy form.