With its Tudor ruins, rural roots and naval links, Dorset is as famous for its rich history as for its beautiful countryside. Discover how your family coped with everything from pirate raids to D-Day departures with our new Dorset records.
Use our new parish records to piece together your family's key events. Then discover more about their lives on Britain's south coast with our other Dorset records, and put them into their historical context with our timeline.
Our Dorset parish registers let you uncover your family's baptisms, marriages and burials through years of religious and civil change. These crucial records are the most comprehensive lists of your ancestors' vital events until civil registration started in 1837 – and even after that date they can help solve research puzzles.
Trace your family's story all the way back to 1538, when Parliament first asked churches to keep registers.
Search nowLater marriage registers often include the names of the bride and groom and their occupations, plus the wedding date and location.
Search nowFind out where and when your ancestors made their commitment to the church, and took their first communion.
Search nowLook out for key details such as parents' names and occupations in our later records of church baptisms.
Search nowDiscover ages, addresses, dates of burial and often even more about your ancestors who were laid to rest in Dorset.
Search nowOnce you've pinpointed a Dorset ancestor's burial record, why not follow it up by searching for their will in our new probate records. This can help you confirm you've found the right person.
Dorset has seen more than its fair share of trouble over the years, from plundering pirates to the defiant Tolpuddle Martyrs. Track down the convicts in your family through more than 200 years with these three record collections:
The 18th and 19th centuries saw more change than any time before. These six record collections give you a rare insight into your ancestors’ everyday lives, and let you discover how they fared in their shifting surroundings:
Dorset has long been at the heart of changes in our political system, ever since an 18th-century scandal over corrupt voting. This collection lets you trace your family’s past through all the chaos and confusion.
Most of the 7 million records are electoral registers, which let you track changes in your ancestors’ addresses after 1832. You’ll also find a few earlier poll books, revealing everybody who voted, plus who they voted for.
A death record might tell you where and when your ancestor died, but finding their will can give you crucial details about how they lived. A will outlines how someone's wealth was distributed, providing fantastic clues about family relationships, while inventories list their valuables, telling you about their personal interests.
Our new collection includes wills, inventories and letters of administration proved in Dorset across four centuries. With over 27,000 records, it can help you follow money or precious heirlooms through generations of your family.
If you're looking for the wills of ancestors who died after 1858 – either in Dorset or elsewhere in the country – try our National Probate Calendar. This provides all you need to order wills from the Principal Probate Registry.
Discover your family's south-coast stories with our Dorset parish records and other collections. Then gain a better understanding of their lives using our historical timeline.
Sitting on the edge of continental Europe, Dorset has long been at the forefront of British foreign policy. To find out how religious dissent, pirate raids and D-day landings have impacted your ancestors, follow these simple steps:
Follow your ancestors' lives in our new parish records, and use your family tree to keep track of their birth, marriage and death dates.
Read the timeline below to see what events affected your forebears' lives. Perhaps members of your family died in the 1613 Great Fire? Or maybe they supported the famous Tolpuddle Martyrs in 1834?
Our timeline may suggest good next steps for your research. Mass migration would point you towards passenger lists; warfare would suggest military records; while changes in working habits might have you looking in occupation records.
Follow the changing tides that shaped your Dorset forebears' lives
You can explore the landscape of the areas where your ancestors lived – in Dorset or elsewhere, through historical maps. Order maps dating from 1805 to the 1940s from Cassini.
Get more help with using parish records.
Learn how to decipher old handwriting.
Watch useful tips on searching our records.
Search our other parish record collections.
Order historical maps from Cassini.
All our parish records are available to Premium and Worldwide members.
Find out more