Source Information

Ancestry.com. London, England, Church of England Confirmation Records, 1838-1923 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010.
Original data: Images produced by permission of London Metropolitan Archives (City of London Corporation). The City of London gives no warranty as to the accuracy, completeness or fitness for the purpose of the information provided. Images may be used only for purposes of research, private study or education. Applications for any other use should be made to London Metropolitan Archives, 40 Northampton Road, London EC1R 0HB via – www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/lma. Infringement of the above condition may result in legal action.

About London, England, Church of England Confirmation Records, 1838-1923

Both the British government and the church had an interest in record keeping, and a 1538 act of Parliament required ministers in the Church of England to record baptisms, marriages, and burials. Confirmations, another church rite, have also been recorded, and the confirmation registers from many of the parishes around London make up this database.

Over time, what is now called confirmation in the Church of England became a separate rite from baptism, as a bishop needed to perform the confirmations, and bishops could not attend all baptisms. Confirmation now usually comes later in life and affirms one’s commitment to the Christian life represented by baptism. Thus, most of the people named in these registers are teenagers and young adults.

About the Records

Confirmation records may include

  • Parish
  • County
  • Borough
  • Name
  • Confirmation date
  • Age
  • Estimated birth year

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