The National Burial Index (NBI) is a database of entries recorded in English and Welsh burials registers - parish, nonconformist, Roman Catholic, Quaker and cemetery.
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Coverage is incomplete, but over 18.4 million records are included, covering 1538-2008. The NBI also incorporates some records that were previously published but have since been checked and corrected.
Information for each individual includes:
- Forename(s) and surname
- date of burial
- age (where given, generally post-1813)
- details of place where the event was recorded; pre-1832 county definitions are used
- the recording society, group or individual
Just one click takes you to details of how to buy your own copy of this important source.
System Requirements
You'll need a PC with at least 2.8Gbytes of free disk space, a CD or DVD drive, and running Windows 10 / 8 / 7 / Vista / XP. Either the 32 or 64 bit versions of any of these operating systems are supported. The search program & all of the data are installed on your hard drive, but the original CD is still needed in your CD/DVD drive each time you start the search program.
The NBI Third Edition is also capable of running on an Apple Mac computer using Apples Bootcamp, Microsoft Parallels or VMware's Fusion 4 Windows Emulation Packages. All the above require a licensed copy of Windows 10 (recommended) to be mounted on the computer prior to loading up the NBI3 program.
The Viewer program
The data is accessed by a dedicated search program, an update from the 2nd Edition viewer. This has an improved system for retrieving surname variants. But you can also search using wildcards, or select a surname from a scrolling list of all the surnames that occur in the database.
Unlike previous editions the entire NBI (search program and data) is installed entirely on to your hard drive which allows each search to operate on the entire dataset, 1538-2008. This change from 4 CDs which were needed to view different historical periods has allowed us to pack the entire dataset on to a single CD. It is still necessary, however, to have the original CD in your drive when you start the program because the disk includes a copy-protection system to prevent unscrupulous copying - a problem in the past. The Viewer program includes facilities for printing the results from searches, and exporting to other applications via the clipboard or via an external file (comma-delimited, HTML and Gedcom are provided).
The Search screen with list of possible variants for a search on CUNNINGTON
The Results screen, with the Current Record dialogue showing James Cunnington, 1724
Public Access Usage
If a facility such as a library or record office wants to make NBI available for use by the general public, it is necessary to obtain a Public Access Licence.
FFHS Member Societies may use NBI within their research or library premises and for demonstration purposes without a Public Access Licence.
Licence Agreement
Some clauses from the NBI licence agreement which may be of interest to the user:
- You may use the software and data on only one computer
- You may print, photocopy or download portions of data for private research and study only. The data may be used and copied in this manner for relations and friends free of charge for non-commercial purposes.
- You may not make any full copies of the software or data.
- You may not publish or sell any portion of the software and data, in printed, electronic, or any other format, without prior written consent of the Licensors.
- You may not loan, rent, sublicense, or transfer the software or data except to give this entire package to another party, in which case you may not keep any copies of the software or data for your own use.
To avoid doubt, the provisions of the licence agreement are not intended to prevent you recording any individual items of data, or disclosing any individual items of data, free of charge, to friends or relations for non-commercial purposes. Nor does it prevent printing, photocopying or downloading portions of data for private research or study.
How To Buy NBI3
Visit our online bookshop.
Upgrade NBI2 to NBI3
NBI3 contains over 18.4 million entries, which is a large advance on the 13.2 million entries in NBI2.
If you own a copy of NBI2 and live in the UK, we can help you upgrade to NBI3 for less than the usual price of buying the current version. Just send an email to sales@familyhistoryfederation.com for full details.
National Burial Index - 3rd Edition Coverage
Colours on the map relate to numbers of entries in each county, in thousands
Click on a county below to see the analysis of coverage by parish
Code | Name of County | 3rd EDITION | 2nd EDITION | 1st EDITION | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Places | Entries | Places | Entries | Places | Entries | ||
BDF | Bedfordshire | 159 | 356,000 | 159 | 356,000 | 28 | 52,000 |
BRK | Berkshire | 301 | 688,000 | 195 | 356,000 | 90 | 119,000 |
BRE | Breconshire | 18 | 11,000 | 5 | 5,000 | 0 | 0 |
BKM | Buckinghamshire | 176 | 83,000 | 176 | 83,000 | 175 | 80,000 |
CAM | Cambridgeshire | 199 | 703,000 | 187 | 205,000 | 184 | 95,000 |
CGN | Cardiganshire | 193 | 164,000 | 135 | 108,000 | 25 | 11,000 |
CHS | Cheshire | 100 | 544,000 | 82 | 399,000 | 59 | 255,000 |
CON | Cornwall | 211 | 111,000 | 211 | 111,000 | 0 | 0 |
CUL | Cumberland | 133 | 92,000 | 73 | 56,000 | 0 | 0 |
DBY | Derbyshire | 54 | 125,000 | 43 | 82,000 | 22 | 35,000 |
DEV | Devon | 7 | 4,000 | 5 | 4,000 | 0 | 0 |
DOR | Dorset | 314 | 330,000 | 289 | 286,000 | 2 | 1,000 |
DUR | Co. Durham | 150 | 743,000 | 117 | 416,000 | 74 | 159,000 |
ESS | Essex | 295 | 969,000 | 221 | 508,000 | 40 | 48,000 |
GLA | Glamorgan | 162 | 400,000 | 154 | 361,000 | 118 | 249,000 |
GLS | Gloucestershire | 315 | 181,000 | 311 | 170,000 | 289 | 154,000 |
HAM | Hampshire | 12 | 12,000 | 9 | 12,000 | 1 | 1,000 |
HEF | Herefordshire | 216 | 94,000 | 215 | 68,000 | 174 | 42,000 |
HRT | Hertfordshire | 173 | 138,000 | 172 | 137,000 | 91 | 84,000 |
HUN | Huntingdonshire | 100 | 260,000 | 94 | 210,000 | 81 | 79,000 |
IOM | Isle of Man | 1 | 7,000 | 1 | 7,000 | 0 | 0 |
KEN | Kent | 73 | 241,000 | 65 | 205,000 | 4 | 16,000 |
LAN | Lancashire | 75 | 431,000 | 54 | 169,000 | 5 | 29,000 |
LEI | Leicestershire | 207 | 330,000 | 206 | 329,000 | 1 | 1,000 |
LIN | Lincolnshire | 667 | 819,000 | 649 | 711,000 | 566 | 616,000 |
LND | City of London | 26 | 228,000 | 25 | 134,000 | 0 | 0 |
MDX | Middlesex | 20 | 93,000 | 5 | 15,000 | 2 | 11,000 |
MON | Monmouthshire | 40 | 11,000 | 39 | 9,000 | 4 | 1,000 |
MGY | Montgomeryshire | 6 | 4,000 | 1 | 1,000 | 1 | 0 |
NFK | Norfolk | 158 | 176,000 | 132 | 105,000 | 131 | 74,000 |
NTH | Northamptonshire | 314 | 319,000 | 220 | 197,000 | 96 | 86,000 |
NBL | Northumberland | 139 | 540,000 | 69 | 188,000 | 36 | 106,000 |
NTT | Nottinghamshire | 178 | 281,000 | 178 | 281,000 | 0 | 0 |
OXF | Oxfordshire | 137 | 223,000 | 137 | 223,000 | 135 | 213,000 |
RAD | Radnorshire | 53 | 16,000 | 44 | 11,000 | 16 | 5,000 |
RUT | Rutland | 28 | 19,000 | 28 | 19,000 | 0 | 0 |
SAL | Shropshire | 245 | 176,000 | 245 | 168,000 | 219 | 85,000 |
SOM | Somerset | 542 | 869,000 | 507 | 755,000 | 1 | 2,000 |
STS | Staffordshire | 253 | 800,000 | 252 | 791,000 | 6 | 18,000 |
SFK | Suffolk | 581 | 1,256,000 | 568 | 836,000 | 486 | 429,000 |
SRY | Surrey | 185 | 522,000 | 181 | 370,000 | 178 | 120,000 |
SSX | Sussex | 364 | 801,000 | 216 | 315,000 | 0 | 0 |
WAR | Warwickshire | 279 | 504,000 | 282 | 504,000 | 276 | 460,000 |
WES | Westmorland | 11 | 6,000 | 11 | 6,000 | 0 | 0 |
WIL | Wiltshire | 168 | 300,000 | 117 | 224,000 | 70 | 145,000 |
WOR | Worcestershire | 195 | 542,000 | 196 | 542,000 | 195 | 483,000 |
YOR | Yorkshire [City & Ainsty] | 45 | 40,000 | 45 | 34,000 | 43 | 19,000 |
ERY | Yorkshire [East Riding] | 79 | 61,000 | 75 | 40,000 | 68 | 28,000 |
NRY | Yorkshire [North Riding] | 274 | 538,000 | 260 | 386,000 | 216 | 311,000 |
WRY | Yorkshire [West Riding] | 473 | 2,314,000 | 359 | 1,706,000 | 233 | 720,000 |
Total | 9,104 | 18,475,000 | 8,020 | 13,214,000 | 4,441 | 5,442,000 |
National Burial Index - Troubleshooting
If you have a problem with NBI version 2, which is now more than a decade old, we suggest you Upgrade to NBI3.
NBI3 Program Fixes
If you have the McAfee antivirus program installed you may experience an interaction with the NBI program. Alternatively you may have one of the following problems:
- i/o error 103 when running a search
- error "0.8 is not a valid floating point value"
- exported CSV file, no comma between date and forename
These problems are solved with a revised version of the search program, installation instructions are as follows:
- Download the latest version of NBI 3, selecting the option to Save the File on your Computer (it doesn't matter which folder you choose). The file is a compressed (zipped) file.
- Double-click on the file to unpack it, it should create a single file SETUP.EXE, again it doesn't matter where this file is created.
- Run SETUP.EXE by double-clicking on it. You shouldn't uninstall the NBI first as the upgrade only contains the Viewer program, not the datafiles. The default location is the same folder as before, i.e. c:\Program Files\NBI3, so if you originally chose another installation folder you'll need to select the same one again. It should overwrite the old versions of the program (NBIView.exe) and help file (NBIHelp.chm).
- After finishing the install, check the program version (Help > About the NBI). It should display "NBI Viewer ver 1.21".
Once installed you can if you like delete files NBI3_Program.zip and Setup.exe, to free up disk space.
Copy Protection
If you get a message "no disk inserted" or asking you to insert the original disk, this may indicate a problem with the copy protection. Please email NBI Technical Support nbitechsupport@familyhistoryfederation.com.