FamilySearch IGI Batch Numbers

Introduction

This website lists most of the extracted batches for the British Isles that previously formed part of the IGI (International Genealogical Index), the on-line database created by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS).

Although the IGI is no longer available on the new FamilySearch website as a single searchable database, the old batch numbers survive and can be searched as before. So the listings on this website treat the IGI as if it still existed in its old form. It also tells you whether the data for each batch appears on the well-known Hugh Wallis website (see below).

This site excludes entries submitted by individuals.

Using this Website

To search for a particular parish or church, click on the a Country link at left (e.g. 'England'), then on a County name. This displays an index of places (mostly parishes), from which you can either go on to list the data in batch number sequence, or click through to the FamilySearch website.

For a detailed analysis of numbers, see the Statistical Tables.

If using Internet Explorer 8 to view this site you may find that some of the county pages are very slow to load. A workaround is to select 'Tools > Compatibility View.'. Firefox is much faster. Please email if you have a problem.

Where is the IGI now?

On the new FamilySearch website, data from the old IGI is separated out into a number of Historical Record Collections (HRCs). There appears to be no LDS guidance on where the data went, but based on an examination of the available collections, it seems to be allocated as follows (click on a link to go straight to the relevant search page on FamilySearch):

These record collections consist only of extracted records, and all the user submitted data of doubtful accuracy has been excluded.

For the time being you can still use the original IGI on the "old" version of FamilySearch. Click here to access the original search page. Presumably this page will disappear at some point.

New Historical Record Collections

The IGI-derived material has recently been joined on the FamilySearch website by a number of other collections such as 'England Deaths and Burials, 1538-1991', which never formed part of the IGI. These are not currently listed on this website. There also some new county collections of parish-register derived data, as well as collections of images that haven't been transcribed.

Differences from Hugh Wallis' website

Though this site doesn't offer all the information provided by the excellent IGI Batch Numbers website created by Hugh Wallis in 2002 (and now hosted by Rootsweb), it updates and amplifies much of that information. These are the main differences:

This site doesn't list North American batch numbers.
It includes the British batches added since 2002, especially the "I" batches.
Contains a detailed analysis of "Mixed" batches - those containing data from more than one place.
Place listings have been substantially cleaned up, and incorporate many corrections to syntax.
Places are assigned to historic counties as at the mid-19th century, e.g. entries for 'London' are assigned to the City of London, Middlesex, Surrey or Kent.
Listings include the number of entries (events) in each batch and the covering dates, both derived from the actual data.
Some summary statistics are provided.

The batch search facility on the Hugh Wallis website was broken from summer 2011, but a linkage to the new FamilySearch website was restored in late October with the help of John Steel.

A Bit of History

The International Genealogical Index (IGI) was first created in 1969 by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) and was originally known as the 'Computer File Index'. In the case of the British Isles, the index comprised mainly baptism and marriage records derived from Parish Registers or Bishops Transcripts. Available on microfiche since 1973, it was renamed the IGI with the 4th edition (1981). It was launched as an MS-Dos based CD-Rom product in the early 1990's, then the data was placed on the LDS's FamilySearch website when it was launched in May 1999.

The microfiche version included the Parish & Vital Records List which catalogued its coverage, parish by parish, with covering dates of extracted records. But this useful finding aid was dropped from the CD and web-based IGI, so there are now no official published listings. Hence the various websites that have been created over the years to fulfil this need, usually for a specific country.

Disclaimer

This is an unoffical analysis of the former IGI batches for the British Isles. The batch numbers on this site were created by and belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I have no connection with the LDS Church.

This site is still under construction. The index pages for some counties remain to be added, and some marriages batches are still missing. The listings in batch number sequence also remain to be tidied up for these remaining counties. To give feedback on errors etc. or request missing county pages please contact

Steve Archer
November 2011