Source Information

Ancestry.com. New Hampshire, U.S., Births and Christenings Index, 1714-1904 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
Original data:

"New Hampshire Birth Records, early to 1900." Index. FamilySearch, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2009. New Hampshire Registrar of Vital Statistics. "Index to births, early to 1900." New Hampshire Registrar of Vital Statistics, Concord, New Hampshire.

"New Hampshire Births and Christenings, 1714-1904." Index. FamilySearch, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2009, 2010. Index entries derived from digital copies of original and compiled records.

About New Hampshire, U.S., Births and Christenings Index, 1714-1904

This database contains an index of details extracted from New Hampshire birth, baptism, and christening records.

What’s in the Index

While the earliest vital records for New Hampshire were recorded by town clerks in the mid-1600s, legislation requiring the secretary of state to compile a statewide record of vitals was not passed until 1866. Compliance improved in the 1880s and was firmly established in 1905 with the creation of the Bureau of Vital records. At this time, the Bureau dispensed cards to town and city clerks and requested transcriptions of earlier vital records. Not every town complied with all pre-1905 records, so the Bureau’s statewide collection is not considered completely comprehensive.

Sources for this index include microfilmed copies of records from the Bureau of Vital Records and Health Statistics as well as town and county clerks, church records, and family records.

Details in the entries will vary depending on the original record, but they may include

  • name
  • gender
  • race
  • birthplace
  • birth date
  • christening place
  • christening date
  • death date
  • age at death
  • father’s name, age, birthplace
  • mother’s name, age, birthplace
  • paternal grandparents
  • maternal grandparents
  • FHL film number

The FHL film number refers to a microfilm copy of the source held by the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Because this database includes details extracted from family records, researchers will want to confirm facts with original and primary sources.