General Sources
Web sites
Ancestry provides message boards, maps, linked pedigree files, indexes, and original source records.

The Office of National Statistics is an official government agency that holds civil registration records.

The Public Record Office is the official government agency that holds many public records collected by the government of the U.K..

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints provides links to holdings in Family History Centres worldwide.

GENUKI is a volunteer organsation that has made thorough descriptions of parishes, Channel Islands history, and Channel Islands links.

Recommended Readings
Your English Ancestry: A Guide for North Americans, by Sherry Irvine, (Ancestry, 1993)

Genealogical Resources in English Repositories, by Joy Wade Moulton (Hampton House, 1998)

Ancestral Trails: The Complete Guide to British Genealogy and Family History, by Mark D. Herber (Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc.,1997)

In Search of the "Forlorn Hope", by John M. Kitsmiller, II (Manuscript Publishing Foundation, 1988)

Note: The Channel Islands are not part of the United Kingdom, but are dependencies of the Crown. Some knowledge of French will aid you in your research, as many parish records were not entered in English until after World War II.

Census Records
The first census that included names of the household was of 1841. A census has been taken every ten years since then except 1941. All of the available census returns have been microfilmed and are available from LDS Family History Centres and the Family Records Centre in London. The LDS Church has completed an index to the census of 1881.

Vital and Church Records
Parish Registers
Before 1837, the best records for births(christenings), marriages, and deaths(burials) were kept by the parishes. Surviving parish registers are very few. Most are still held by the local parishes. The LDS Family History Centres have some microfilm of these registers. Some parish registers have also been indexed in the International Genealogical Index (IGI), also produced by the LDS Church.

Civil Registration of Birth, Marriage, and Death
Civil registration of births and deaths began in Guernsey in 1840, in Jersey in 1842, and on Sark and Alderney in 1925. Civil registration of marriages began in 1842 in Jersey, and 1919 on the remaining islands. Jersey registers are held at Burrard House, Don Street, St. Helier, Jersey, JE2 4TR. Guernsey registers are found at the General Register Office at the Royal Court House, St. Peter Port, Guernsey, GY1 2PD. For Alderney, inquire to the Clerk of the Court, Queen Elizabeth Street, Alderney. Finally, for information in Sark, contact the Registrar, La Vallette, Sark.

Compiled Genealogy
The Ancestry World Tree has more than 5,000 linked names of families from Channel Islands in pedigrees submitted by contributors from all over the world. FamilySearch.org also has many thousands of donated pedigree files.

Community and Message Boards
The largest message board for Channel Islands family history research is provided by Ancestry.

Military Records
Nearly all British military records of Channel Islanders are held in the Public Records Office in Kew, London, England.

Reference and Finding Aids
Visit the Channel Islands Map Centre.

Emigration
Emigration in the 1800s
To search emigration records effectively, you should know the approximate date of emigration, the name of the ship, the reason for emigration, or the emigrant’s previous residence in the Channel Islands. If you know the ship’s name, you might find additional details on the ship, including ports of embarkation and arrival, in Lloyd’s Register of British and Foreign Shipping. Fiche ed. (LaCrosse, Wis.: Brookhaven Press, 1981).

Passenger Lists
Pre-1890 passenger departure lists are rare. Post-1890 lists are arranged chronologically by port of departure. These lists usually give the emigrant’s name, age, occupation, address, and sometimes destination, and are kept at the Public Record Office in Kew, London, England.

Additionally, you may try searching immigration records of the United States, Canada, and Australia, where the majority of Channel Islands immigrants settled.

Court, Land, and Probate
Wills in Guernsey are held at the Ecclesiastical Court of the Bailiwick of Guernsey in St. Peter Port. Land was inherited according to law until 1841. Wills of reality recorded after 1841 are held at the Royal Court of Guernsey. Wills in Jersey are found at The Ecclesiastical Court of the Dean of Jersey. Land records are found at the Land Registry. The Land Registry has been microfilmed and is available at LDS Family History Centres.

Since the Channel Islands were part of the diocese of Winchester and the province of Canterbury, wills of inhabitants might also be found in the Prerogative Court in Cantebury.