Early church and district codes

In 1856 the Registry acquired the Supreme Court's copies of the 1834 to 1835 baptism, marriage and burial registers from ministers of denominations other than the Church of England.

In 1879 the Clergy Returns Transfer Act was passed, requiring that the Church of England Bishop in Sydney hand over copies of the 1825 to 1855 baptism, marriage and burial registers to the Registry.

Mr Henry Kerrison James, who held these records, was paid £4000 compensation for the loss of the records. When opened, the crates containing the registers were found to also contain earlier registers going back to 1787.

In 1912, the Registrar General wrote to all church authorities asking for access to their pre-1856 registers so that Registry and church records could be reconciled. The Registrar also asked for access to the 1856 to 1895 church marriages registers.

The Registry's early church records were consolidated into 158 volumes of approximately 50,000 entries, with each given a unique number or early church code.

Some early marriage records (1856-1895) recorded only the details of the two people marrying with no details of the parents even though they appeared in the Church registers. These registrations were amended with a note explaining the change.

The Registry's church records from the early days of NSW are not complete and the reconciliation of records and amendments to marriage registrations was never finalised. Records still held by the churches can sometimes fill in the missing details on a marriage certificate or provide baptism records where there is no civil registration for the birth.