Access Bristol County Genealogy Records

Bristol County genealogy records are spread across three separate registry districts, each covering a different set of towns in the county. Researchers need to know which district handled their ancestor's town before searching, since the Northern District in Taunton, the Southern District in New Bedford, and the Fall River District each hold their own independent deed collections. This page covers all three registries, the county probate court, vital records sources, and the immigrant heritage databases that are especially valuable for Bristol County family history.

Bristol County's Three Registry Districts

Bristol County is one of the few counties in Massachusetts that divides its land records across three separate registries. This structure has been in place for a long time, and it matters for genealogy research because a deed filed in Taunton is not in New Bedford's records and vice versa. Each district is an independent office with its own index, its own staff, and its own set of deed books. Knowing your ancestor's town is the key step before you search.

The Northern District covers Attleboro, Berkley, Dighton, Easton, Mansfield, North Attleboro, Norton, Raynham, Rehoboth, Seekonk, and Taunton. The Southern District covers Acushnet, Dartmouth, Fairhaven, New Bedford, and Westport. The Fall River District covers Fall River, Freetown, Somerset, and Swansea. If you are not sure which district to use, start with the town name and match it to one of these three lists. All three registries are also searchable through the statewide portal at masslandrecords.com, which is free and requires no login.

FamilySearch has digitized deed images for all three Bristol County registry districts. You can search and view these records free at familysearch.org. The FamilySearch wiki page for Bristol County also lists every available collection and explains what time periods each one covers. This is one of the best free starting points for Bristol County genealogy research.

Bristol North Registry of Deeds (Taunton)

The Bristol North Registry of Deeds at tauntondeeds.com serves the northern towns of Bristol County including Taunton, Attleboro, and Norton, with land records searchable online.

The Taunton registry handles recording and deed research for eleven northern Bristol County towns.

The Northern District office is at 11 Court Street in Taunton. The phone number is 508-822-0502. The fax is 508-880-4975. You can also reach the office by email at registry@tauntondeeds.com. Hours are Monday through Friday, 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM. The online search portal at tauntondeeds.com lets you search deed records for all eleven towns in the Northern District. Searches are free and images are available online.

For genealogy researchers, the Taunton district covers one of the older-settled parts of Bristol County. Taunton itself was incorporated in 1639, and land records in the Northern District can run quite deep. Deeds often name heirs and family members, particularly in older transactions where property passed from parent to child. Mortgage discharges and releases can also help date major life events like paying off a family farm.

Bristol South Registry of Deeds (New Bedford)

The Bristol South Registry at newbedforddeeds.com covers New Bedford, Acushnet, Dartmouth, Fairhaven, and Westport, providing free online access to southern district land records.

New Bedford's deep maritime and whaling heritage means these land records contain unique genealogy data tied to fishing and whaling families going back centuries.

The Southern District office is at 25 North 6th Street in New Bedford. The phone is 508-993-2605. The fax is 508-997-4250. Email is info@newbedforddeeds.com. Hours are Monday through Friday, 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM. The online search portal is at newbedforddeeds.com. Free deed searches cover all five towns in the district. Images are available online going back through the registry's full collection.

New Bedford was once the whaling capital of the world. The Southern District's land records reflect this history. Whalers, captains, ship owners, chandlers, and merchants all bought and sold property in these five towns, and their names appear throughout the deed indexes from the 1800s. Researchers tracing Portuguese and Cape Verdean ancestors will find the Southern District especially important, since New Bedford drew many immigrant families from the Atlantic islands who settled here and bought property. Deeds from the mid-to-late 1800s often show the first generation of immigrant families acquiring land in their new home.

Note: Catholic church records are a critical supplement to the deed and probate records for New Bedford immigrant families. Portuguese and Cape Verdean ancestors may have records in church registers that predate their appearance in civil records.

Bristol Fall River Registry of Deeds

The Bristol Fall River Registry at fallriverdeeds.com handles land records for Fall River, Freetown, Somerset, and Swansea in the southeastern part of Bristol County.

Fall River's French-Canadian and Portuguese immigrant heritage is documented in these records, making the Fall River registry a key source for immigrant genealogy research in the region.

The Fall River District office is at 441 North Main Street in Fall River. The phone is 508-673-1651. The fax is 508-673-7633. Email is admin@fallriverdeeds.org. Hours are Monday through Friday, 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM. The online portal is at fallriverdeeds.com. Free online searching covers all four towns in the Fall River District.

Fall River drew large numbers of French-Canadian and Portuguese immigrants in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Many came to work in the textile mills. The deed records for this period show immigrant families buying their first homes and lots. French-Canadian ancestors who settled in Fall River often have records in both the civil deed and probate system and in the Catholic parish registers maintained by French-speaking parishes. The American-French Genealogical Society, based in nearby Woonsocket, Rhode Island, holds databases specifically for Franco-American families in this region and is worth contacting if you have Fall River ancestors of French-Canadian descent.

Bristol County Probate Genealogy Records

The Bristol County Probate and Family Court holds probate records going back to 1685, making it one of the older probate collections in Massachusetts. The court is at 40 Broadway Street, Suite 240, in Taunton. The phone number is 508-977-6040. Probate records include wills, estate inventories, administration papers, guardianship files, and trust documents. Wills from the colonial and early national periods often provide the clearest picture of an ancestor's family structure, since they name children, grandchildren, and sometimes in-laws directly.

FamilySearch has digitized Bristol County probate record books and case file images, and many are available free at familysearch.org. The probate files are alphabetized by name, making it easier to find a specific person without knowing a case number. For records after the digitized period, contact the Taunton courthouse directly. Staff can look up cases by name or docket number. In-person visits let you see the full file, including any loose papers inside the case folder that may not have been imaged.

Estate inventories from the 1700s and early 1800s are among the most detailed genealogy sources in the probate collection. They list every item in an estate, from furniture to tools to livestock, sometimes including debts owed by name. Guardianship records name minor children and their surviving parent, which helps establish family connections when a death certificate or birth record is missing. These records rarely get the attention they deserve from genealogy researchers, but they can solve problems that vital records alone cannot.

Note: Bristol County probate records before 1685 may appear in Plymouth Colony records, since Bristol County was part of Plymouth Colony during the earliest period of English settlement in the region.

Vital Records for Bristol County Genealogy

Bristol County vital records follow the statewide Massachusetts system. The state began central registration in 1841. Records from 1841 to 1925 are at the Massachusetts State Archives at 220 Morrissey Boulevard in Boston. In-person copies cost $3 each. Records from 1926 to the present are at the Registry of Vital Records and Statistics in Dorchester. You can order online for $54 for the first copy, by mail for $32, or in person for $20. Official certified copies can also be ordered through mass.gov.

For events before 1841, town clerks in each Bristol County town are the primary source. Many towns published their early vital records in the Massachusetts "Systematic Series" of printed books. These cover births, marriages, and deaths from the town's earliest settlement through the mid-1800s. FamilySearch has free access to Massachusetts Town Clerk records from 1626 to 2001 and state vital records from 1841 to 1920. These are free without an account and are a good starting point before contacting town or state offices.

Under M.G.L. Chapter 46, Massachusetts sets the rules for vital record registration and access. Most older genealogy records are open to the public. More recent records may have restrictions. For immigrant ancestors, remember that Catholic church registers often run parallel to civil records and sometimes predate state registration for families who arrived after 1841 but before 1850. These church records are held by individual parishes and are not part of the state system, so they require separate research.

American Ancestors at americanancestors.org holds additional New England vital records databases that cover Bristol County families. Their collections often include records that were not part of the state registration system, including church records that were privately compiled. A membership is required for most databases, but in-person access to the NEHGS library in Boston is free for anyone.

Cities in Bristol County

The three major cities in Bristol County each have dedicated genealogy pages with more detail on local sources and courthouse access.

Other communities in Bristol County include Attleboro, North Attleboro, Mansfield, Easton, Dartmouth, Fairhaven, Westport, Rehoboth, Seekonk, Somerset, Swansea, Freetown, and others. Genealogy records for all of these towns are held at one of the three registry districts described above.

Nearby Counties

Norfolk and Plymouth counties border Bristol County to the north and east. If your ancestor lived near a county line, check both registries since deeds and probate files are filed by the county where the property or decedent was located.