Search Rutland parish records browse

The images provided in this collection have been made available by the Record Office for Leicestershire, Leicester & Rutland. There are four types of events represented in these records: baptisms, banns, marriages, and burials. Each event will provide slightly different information and coverage. Follow the link in the Useful links and resources section to see a full list of parishes covered.

However, if you are interested in searching one for these five parishes, you must search the following:

• For Barleythorpe records, search the registers for Oakham parish
• For Barrow records, search the registers for Cottesmore parish
• For Gunthorpe records, search the registers for Oakham parish
• For Horn records, search the registers for Exton parish
• For Martinsthorpe records, search the registers for Oakham parish

Baptisms

Spanning from 1538 to 1916, the baptism records come from 50 parishes. The images of the original baptism records may provide you with the following information:

• First name(s)
• Last name
• Birth year
• Baptism year
• Baptism date
• Baptism place
• Denomination
• Abode
• Father’s first name(s)
• Father’s profession
• Mother’s first name(s)
• Mother’s last name

Banns

Banns records span from 1653 to 1931 and cover 49 parishes. From the images, you may be able to discover the following details:

• First name(s)
• Last name
• Residence
• Banns year
• Banns dates
• Spouse’s first name(s)
• Spouse’s last name
• Spouse’s residence
• Denomination
• Place
• Marital statuses of the couple
• Subsequent marriage date and place
• Witnesses of the subsequent marriage

Marriages

Marriage records from 1538 to 1931 and covering 50 parishes may include the following details:

• First name(s)
• Last name
• Age
• Birth year
• Residence
• Marital status
• Residence
• Father’s name and profession
• Marriage year
• Marriage date
• Spouse’s first name(s)
• Spouse’s last name
• Spouse’s age
• Spouse’s marital status
• Spouse’s residence
• Spouse’s father’s name and profession
• Denomination
• Place
• Witnesses’ names

Burials

The burial records cover 50 parishes from 1538 to 1991. Most records will include the following details:

• First name(s)
• Last name
• Age
• Birth year
• Death year
• Death date
• Burial year
• Burial date
• Burial place
• Denomination
• Abode

Civil registration was passed in 1837, which means that for vital records, such as those for baptisms, parish registers are imperative for gathering essential details for family history research like dates, names, and places. Parish registers date as far back as 1538.

The county of Rutland is in the East Midlands of England and is landlocked by Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, and Northamptonshire.

There are different cut-offs for each event type, listed below. As time goes on, we will be able to release more records as they become available.

• Baptisms – 100 years
• Banns and marriages – 85 years
• Burials – 25 years

You may find information of interest in the preambles before the individual parish records properly begin. For example, at the start of one of the Burley registers (archive reference DE1922/2), there is some detail included about Robert Browne, the founder of a sect of Puritans called ‘Brownists’:

‘Formerly resided Robert Browne, founder of a sect of puritans who called themselves Brownists, died in prison at the age of 80, sent there for assaulting a constable who came to execute a warrant against him. Two men by name Thacher & Cooper were hanged at Bury 1581 for dispersing his books against the established church’.

The same register also includes mention of Jeffery Hudson (1619-1682), the court dwarf of Queen Henrietta Maria. He went on to fight on the side of the Royalists during the English Civil War before fleeing to France with Queen Henrietta Maria. His baptism took place in the Rutland parish of Oakham. The register notes that Hudson ‘never exceeded the height of 3 feet 9 inches’ and that he was part of the entertainment provided by the Duke of Buckingham at The Hall in Burley.

Additionally, the men from Burley who served during the First World War are listed. The list includes an ‘x’ next to names of men killed in action.