British Armed Forces, Roman Catholic Registers Browse

Search British Armed Forces, Roman Catholic Registers Browse

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Browse through thousands of Roman Catholic sacramental registers from the British armed forces. The registers comprise records for the British Army, Royal Air Force, and Royal Navy stationed at home and abroad between 1836 and 1975.

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What can these records tell me?

This collection comprises baptism, confirmation, marriage, and burial records. The information found in each record will vary depending on the event type. You can search by year, place, and event. Then browse through each sacramental register from beginning to end. Below are some of the facts that you will find in each event.

Baptisms

  • Name
  • Sex
  • Birth year
  • Birth date
  • Event year
  • Baptism date
  • Place
  • Baptism country
  • Residence county
  • Father’s name
  • Mother’s name
  • Godparents or sponsors

Confirmations

  • Name
  • Sex
  • Year
  • Confirmation year
  • Confirmation date
  • Place
  • Confirmation name
  • Priest’s name
  • Confirmation country
  • Residence county

Marriages

  • Name
  • Alias
  • Sex
  • Year
  • Marriage date
  • Place
  • Witnesses’ names
  • Rank or occupation
  • Residence at the time of the event
  • Marriage country
  • Residence county
  • Spouse’s name

Burials

  • Name
  • Age
  • Sex
  • Birth year
  • Year
  • Death year
  • Burial year
  • Place
  • Burial county
  • Service branch

Discover more about these records

The British Armed Forces, Roman Catholic Registers Browse have been digitised from The Scottish Catholic Archives. They contain sacramental registers of baptisms, confirmations, marriages, and burials between 1836 and 1975. The registers feature the names of military personnel and their families stationed both at home and abroad. You will find registers from the military towns Aldershot and Shorncliffe, as well as bases in Cairo, Cyprus, Malta, and more. To search the registers by name, go to the British Armed Forces, Roman Catholic Registers available in the Useful links and resources.

The registers were created by the Bishopric of the Forces, the religious officials of the Roman Catholic Church responsible for the pastoral care of Roman Catholics in the military. Roman Catholic registers were often recorded in Latin. Latin was the official language of the Church until the second half of the 20th century. Below is a list of common Latin words found in the records to help you decipher the detailed images.

Latin

Many of the registers will be written in Latin. Latin was the language of the Roman Catholic Church until the 1960s. Below are common Latin words you may find in the registers.

  • Aetati - age
  • Anno Domino – year of Our Lord
  • Baptizandi - baptised
  • Cognomen - surname
  • Die mensis – day of month
  • Domicilium - residence
  • Filium / Filiam - son or daughter
  • Matrimonium – the sacrament of Holy Matrimony or marriage
  • Matrina fuit - godmother was
  • Mensis - month
  • Natus - birth
  • Nomina parentum – the names of parents
  • Nomen sacerdotis - the name of the assistant priest
  • Observanda – observations or notes
  • Patrinus fuit - godfather was
  • Praesntibus testibus – their presence as witnesses
  • Sepultum est - buried in
  • Sponsoribus – sponsors