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.
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.
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
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.
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