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OFHS Search Services

Part of the Information Services of Oxfordshire Family History Society

The Search Indexes Available
1841 Census for Oxfordshire
1851 Census for Oxfordshire
1861 Census for Oxfordshire
1871 Census for Oxfordshire
1881 Census for Oxfordshire
1891 Census for Oxfordshire
1901 Census for Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire Baptisms 1538-1851 (See note below)
Oxford City Baptisms 1800-1837
Oxfordshire Marriages 1538-1837 (See note below)
North Berkshire Marriages 1538-1851 (See note below)
Oxfordshire Burials 1538-1851 (See note below)
Oxford City Cemetery Grave Registers
Monumental Inscriptions
Strays & Strangers
 
Note:
For some parishes, the end dates for the baptism, marriage and burial indexes have been extended beyond the default values indicated above. The individual dates for each parish can be seen from the Coverage of Search Indexes by date page. This page is regularly updated as the coverage is extended for more parishes.

Background and Ordering Information
What are the Search Services?
The Three Types of Search
Ordering Information
Paying for Searches On-Line using your Credit Card
Download a Guide to the OFHS Search Services

General Advice & Information
Parish Register and Search Service Coverage Map
Coverage of Search Indexes by date   New in 2015
Family Migration Map   New in 2014
Popular Oxfordshire Surnames
Hints & Tips from the Search Desk

Links to other Sources of Information
Finding Your Ancestors on the Internet

GENERAL BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Family historians with links to Oxfordshire are fortunate in having a wealth of transcribed data available, as a result of the efforts of many volunteers over the years. Much of this has now been indexed and is held on computer. (This indexing is still ongoing. If you have a little spare time and would be prepared to help, we would be delighted to hear from you.) The indexes presently available are described in detail below.

The role of OFHS Search Services is to help you find people by means of these indexes.

Note that this is all that we can do. I am sorry, but we simply do not have the resources to do general research for people, nor to find data that is not included in one of these indexes.

When requesting a search, as an absolute minimum, please specify the following three things:

What Type of Search you want
Which Index you want searching
The Name(s) of the Person or People involved

Particularly with popular names, it helps if you can provide suggestions for any of the following:

Date of the Event, Ages, Locations, Names and Ages of other family members.

The sections which follow will provide you with more details about the types of searches we can offer, the indexes we have available and how to request a search.

Note that many of the indexes and transcripts used for the search service can also be purchased in the form of microfiche or on CD. If you have a large number of ancestors to find in a particular location, this can be more cost-effective than ordering a lot of searches. Click on these links for details.

THE THREE TYPES OF SEARCH

1. Search for an Individual Event

Baptism, Marriage, or Burial for a specific person, or Census Entry for a specific household. If found, we supply full details. (See the individual indexes below, for the form these details will take.)

2. Search for a List of Names

Up to 70 entries for a specified surname, from a specified index. We supply just the index entries. If there are more than 70 entries these can be supplied for an additional search fee for each additional 70 entries. With popular names ask for a quote first! We can reduce the numbers by restricting to a specific forename, date-range or location.
N.B. Most people dramatically under estimate just how popular their names are. For example, the burial index contains 6500+ entries for SMITH, which you might expect; but also contains 540 entries for SLATTER, which you might think was a relatively unusual name.

3. Supplying Census Prints

Not really a Search at all. If you already have census index information from microfiche or CDROM indexes you have purchased, you can use the Search Service to order full household details in the form described for the individual censuses below.
N.B. If requesting this service, please do not just supply the folio reference number. A folio reference specifies more than one page, and we need to know which page you want. So please include the name and age for at least one household member.

ORDERING INFORMATION

All prices are quoted in UK Pounds. Orders must be accompanied by a cheque for the total amount and a stamped, self-addressed envelope (SAE) for us to return the results to you.

With the exception of full household details from the censuses of 1861 onwards (which are sent as prints of pages from the enumerator's book), all results can be sent to you by email if you prefer - in which case no SAE is required.

Send all requests (except for the Strays & Strangers Index) to:
Dr Alan Simpson
Forest Farmhouse, Old Road, Shotover Hill, Headington, OXFORD, OX3 8TA
Email: searches@ofhs.org.uk

Please make cheques payable to O.F.H.S.

Overseas customers should send cheques in sterling and drawn on a UK clearing bank.
Alternatively you may find it more convenient to order on-line by credit card, as described below.

In all cases, if in doubt please email for a quotation.

PAYING FOR YOUR SEARCHES ON-LINE

It is now possible to pay for your searches on-line, using your credit card. You can combine as many searches as you want in one order and if you wish, you may also include other on-line purchases from the OFHS on-line shopping facility in the same order. Secure payments can be made via WorldPay using any of the following:

Visa Delta,   Visa Electron,   Visa,   MasterCard,   JCB,   Solo,   Maestro,   PayPal logo   payments powered by WorldPay

Whatever your national currency, you can purchase at the British prices shown using your credit card - the final amount will be converted into your own currency and deducted from your account. You can use, for instance, the Quick Converter at www.xe.com to give you a guide to your expenditure.

Because searches are not a fixed-price catalogue item, you will not find a "SEARCH" button to click on our on-line shopping pages. Instead, here is how it works:

  1. You send an email to searches@ofhs.org.uk with details of the searches you require.
  2. We send you an email quoting a price for the search, including any postal costs involved. (So don't forget to tell us whereabouts in the world you live!)
    This email includes a clickable link to our Search Service Order Confirmation page. The link uniquely identifies your search request and it is valid for one month.
  3. If you are happy with the quotation and want to place the order, just click the link. You will be taken to the Order Confirmation page, which will give you an order reference number and confirm the price.
  4. Assuming you still wish to confirm the order, you click the button to "Put Search in my Basket". You will then be given the option to "Continue Shopping" for other items such as CDs. When you have finished shopping you will be taken to a secure website to supply your details.
  5. We will automatically receive notification that your search order has been placed and will go ahead with the search and email or post the results to you as appropriate.
  6. Note that if you are combining a search order with other purchases as described above, the search order must always be the first item you place in your shopping basket.

Please contact us by email at online-sales@ofhs.org.uk if you think anything has gone wrong with your online purchase. Alternatively you may also contact us by telephone on 01865 358151 (+44 1865 358151 from outside the UK).

Please note that the above email address and phone number should only be used for reporting problems with your on-line purchase. Requests for Search Services should be emailed to: searches@ofhs.org.uk or may be sent by post to Dr Alan Simpson at the address given above.

Sorry, but we are not able to handle Search Service requests by telephone.

Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000, applicable in the United Kingdom and European Union only.

A customer has the right to cancel an order for goods within seven working days of the receipt of the goods. This seven day period excludes Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays. Written notification of intention to cancel should be received by the Society within the "cooling off" period.

On receipt of due notice, the Society will refund the retail sale price of the goods if they are returned in a re-saleable condition. The return of the goods is at the customer's risk, and the costs involved must be met by the customer. The Society will process the refund within thirty days of receipt of the returned goods.

DOWNLOAD A GUIDE TO USING OFHS SEARCH SERVICES
A Guide to using the Oxfordshire Family History Society Search Services is available as a text document in RTF format (this is readable by most word processing programs). It is intended to be printed on two sides of A4 paper for use as a quick-reference guide.

It may be downloaded by clicking here

1841 CENSUS for OXFORDSHIRE

The index covers the whole present-day county of Oxfordshire. A search for an individual or household costs £1.50. If found, the household entry will be supplied in the form of a transcript (may be sent by email). Transcripts for up to three more, similar households may be included within the basic fee, with additional similar households being supplied at 35p each. (By "similar households", we mean households in the same location having one or more members with the same surname as the original search.)
Alternatively a list of index entries for a given surname can be supplied at £1.50 per 70 names. Please ask for a quote for popular names.

Note that less detail was included in the 1841 census than in later censuses. In particular, relationships between household members were not given and the only indication about place of birth was whether people were born in the county in which they were resident on census night. Ages of adults in this census were supposed to be rounded down to the nearest multiple of 5 years. Not all enumerators got this right! Finally there were a very few locations in Oxfordshire and North Berkshire which "belonged" to a different county in 1841 (some as "islands" completely surrounded by Oxfordshire). These were enumerated as part of their parent county and so do not appear in our index. Conversely there were a few similar places in neighbouring counties which belonged to Oxfordshire in 1841 and so do appear in our index for that year but not for later years.

1851 CENSUS for OXFORDSHIRE

The index covers the whole present-day county of Oxfordshire. A search for an individual or household costs £1.50. If found, the household entry will be supplied in the form of a transcript (may be sent by email). Transcripts for up to three more, similar households may be included within the basic fee, with additional similar households being supplied at 35p each. (By "similar households", we mean households in the same location having one or more members with the same surname as the original search.)
Alternatively a list of index entries for a given surname can be supplied at £1.50 per 70 names. Please ask for a quote for popular names.

1861 CENSUS for OXFORDSHIRE

The index covers the whole present-day county of Oxfordshire, with the exception of the Woodstock sub-district (for which the enumerators' books have been lost). A search for an individual or household costs £1.50. If found, the household entry will be supplied in the form of a photocopy of the page from the enumerator's book. (This must be sent by post, so UK orders should include an SAE. For overseas orders we will add postage and packing at cost, but don't forget to tell us your postal address!)
Alternatively a list of index entries for a given surname can be supplied at £1.50 per 70 names. Please ask for a quote for popular names.

1871, 1881, 1891 and 1901 CENSUSES for OXFORDSHIRE

These indexes cover the whole present-day county of Oxfordshire. A search for an individual or household in any one of these indexes costs £1.50. If found, the household entry will be supplied in the form of a photocopy of the page from the enumerator's book. (This must be sent by post, so UK orders should include an SAE. For overseas orders we will add postage and packing at cost, but don't forget to tell us your postal address!)
Alternatively a list of index entries for a given surname, from a specified index, can be supplied at £1.50 per 70 names. Please ask for a quote for popular names.

OXFORDSHIRE BAPTISMS     1538 - 1851

This index will eventually cover all the parishes of present-day Oxfordshire. It is presently incomplete and is still being extended. See the Parish Coverage Map for details of the parishes so far included. The index contains name, year, parents and parish for each baptism. A search for an individual baptism costs £1.50. If found, the full details from the parish register transcript will be provided.
Alternatively a list of index entries for a given surname can be supplied at £1.50 per 70 names. Please ask for a quote for popular names.

OXFORD CITY BAPTISMS     1800 - 1837

This index covers all the parishes within the city for the restricted date range of 1800 - 1837. The index contains name, year and parish for each baptism. This index will be discontinued when the new Oxfordshire Baptism index includes all the City Parishes. Until then, if you have requested a search for an individual in the Oxfordshire Baptism index, we will also include a search in the City index at no extra charge, if your expected date range includes 1800 - 1837 and the baptism is not found in the Oxfordshire index.
Alternatively a list of City Baptism index entries for a given surname can be supplied at £1.50 per 70 names. Please ask for a quote for popular names.

OXFORDSHIRE MARRIAGES     1538 - 1837

This index is virtually complete for the parishes of pre-1974 Oxfordshire. See the Parish Coverage Map for details of the parishes included in the pre-1974 county. The index contains the date and location of the marriage, the names of both parties and their home parishes (if recorded). There are actually two separate indexes, one indexed by husband's surname and the other by wife's surname. A search for an individual marriage costs £1.50. We will search whichever index is appropriate based on the surname(s) you provide. If you know the names of both parties, we will automatically search the wife's index, if we fail to find the marriage in the husband's index. If found, the full details from the parish register transcript will be provided. This will normally include witnesses names for marriages after 1753.
Alternatively a list of index entries for a given surname from either the husband's index or the wife's index can be supplied at £1.50 per 70 names. Please ask for a quote for popular names. Lists from both huband's and wife's indexes count as two searches.

NORTH BERKSHIRE MARRIAGES     1538 - 1851

This index covers some of the Berkshire parishes transferred to Oxfordshire in the 1974 county boundary changes. See the Parish Coverage Map for details of the parishes included in the index. The index contains the date and location of the marriage, the names of both parties and their home parishes (if recorded). There are actually two separate indexes, one indexed by husband's surname and the other by wife's surname. A search for an individual marriage costs £1.50. If you have requested a search for an individual marriage in the Oxfordshire Marriage Index and we have failed to find it in pre-1974 Oxfordshire, we will automatically extend the search to North Berkshire, at no extra charge. If found, the full details from the parish register transcript will be provided. This will normally include witnesses names for marriages after 1753.
Alternatively a list of North Berkshire index entries for a given surname from either the husband's index or the wife's index can be supplied at £1.50 per 70 names. Please ask for a quote for popular names. Lists from both huband's and wife's indexes count as two searches.

OXFORDSHIRE BURIALS     1538 - 1851

This index will eventually cover all the parishes of present-day Oxfordshire. It is presently incomplete and is still being extended. See the Parish Coverage Map for details of the parishes so far included. The index contains name, year, age (where recorded) and parish for each burial. A search for an individual burial costs £1.50. If found, the full details from the parish register transcript will be provided.
Alternatively a list of index entries for a given surname can be supplied at £1.50 per 70 names. Please ask for a quote for popular names.

OXFORD CITY CEMETERY GRAVE REGISTERS

This index covers the transcribed grave registers for the Oxford City Cemeteries

  • BOTLEY 1894 - 2007
  • HEADINGTON 1899 - 2008
  • ROSE HILL 1894 - 2010
  • WOLVECOTE 1894 - 2009
The full transcripts are available on our CD OXF-CEM-CCC
The index contains name, year, age (where recorded) and cemetery for each burial. A search for an individual burial costs £1.50. If found, the full details from the parish register transcript will be provided.
Alternatively a list of index entries for a given surname can be supplied at £1.50 per 70 names. Please ask for a quote for popular names.

MONUMENTAL INSCRIPTIONS

This index covers all monumental inscriptions included on the microfiche or CD available from the Society. See the Parish Coverage Map for details of the parishes where inscriptions have been transcribed. The index contains name, year, age and location (or as many of these as were recorded in the transcript). Note that we cannot provide the full text of an inscription as part of the search service. These must be obtained by purchasing the microfiche or CD for the graveyard concerned.
A list of index entries for a given surname can be supplied at £1.50 per 70 names. Please ask for a quote for popular names.

STRAYS and STRANGERS INDEX
Apply to Mrs Jennifer Tombs, 60 Selwood Road, OLD WOKING, GU22 9HT
Email: strays@ofhs.org.uk
Charge: £1.50 per surname (with variants) plus sae (or 5IRC's)

Registered Charity Number 275891

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