parish records

[scoobydoo2]

Hi am a bit of a novice at family trees and would like to look at some parish records. I know it sounds thick but how do I go about it. Any help appreciated

[CheekyChops]

Some are available on the IGI at http://www.familysearch.org but by no means all.

Some can be found by googling the place name and 'parish records'.

Other than that, you will have to visit the Records Office, Local Studies Library or Archives for the area that you are interest in.

In fact, even if you do find what you want on the IGI, you should still check the originals at the Records Office as there are mistakes and mistranscriptions.

[echokilo]

lso worth ringing the local church/vicar or parish office too s occasionally they have kept the originals (and local history centre/rcords office have just scanned copies) If the church still has originals you may be able to go and visit to see them .... I ave had lots of luck this way... is this for records pre 1837 Scooby?

[sigma]

The parish records published on CD are well worth the investment as they allow name, place and word searches.When searching CD's one has to allow for all spelling variations as the entries are dependent on the literacy level of the vicar/curate or the pronunciation of the name. For example, Smith could be Smyth, Smythe or Smitt.
Viewing the originals is the best option as they make fascinating reading as the vicar/curate sometimes adds comments in the margin or foot of the page.
The early entries can be frustrating as they may read
John son of John Smith or John son of John and Mary.Also 16th / 17th C entries can be in Latin.
Good luck

[dot.hawkes]

Parish Registers of Christening marriage and Burial began in 1538 and so if the parish existed then, it is probable the original register, written in simple ecclesiastical latin, were kept at the church, and even carried around the parish , for a couple of hundred years or so before it was filled in some cases. The registers were stored in lots of different places, and though there was care taken, time and environment had an effect. Any filled registers were sent to the diocesan office. In more recent times, the registers were deposited in the diocesan record office, which is usually located at the County Record Office. Other records that have survived over time will also have been deposited at the CRO. These include the Parish Records, which are distinct from the Parish Registers, and contain a vast amount of family history detail. The type of records include the Records of the Vestry Committee, the Churchwardens accounts and the lists of the payers of the Parish Rate. In many CRO's the Parish Records were indexed as they were deposited, and any name included will have been collected. These records can help you discover all sorts of wierd and wonderful incidents wirthin a Parish that may include your own family.
It is also worth noting that the IGI mainly only contains the Parish Records of the Church of England in England and Wales. It does not use many catholic or non-conformist records. These are registers that would need to be sought at CROs in addition to the entries on the IGI.

[dot.hawkes]

Elizabeth 1 was adamant that her Church records would be the best kept in the World, and she passed an act to have transcripts made of every register in every Parish, 4 times a year, this wasters had an overhaul under an order from Elizabeth the first in 1598, shes done by the Bishop in every Diocese undertaking to visit himself, or send an underling, to organise an exact duplicate copy of the previous 3 months register entries, each type of entry being kept in it's own register, i.e., a baptism, marriage and burial book . These transcripts were then taken back to the Diocese and kept in considerably better surroundings, and this is why the Bishop's Transcripts (BTs) on the whole survived down the centuries, in many cases they are the only surviving registers in some Parishes. Most BTs are now deposited and filmed in CROs, these are often the ones that people get to look at, and they can usually be indentified as BTs because of the repetitive nature of the entries.

The IGI (International Genealogical Index) was a project begun by the LDS Church (Mormons) 50 odd years ago. It's purpose was and is, to identify the ancestors of it's Church Congregation and then postumously baptise those ancestors into the Mormon Congregation. The resulting records are massive, however, to be able to film the vast archive of parish Registers, the Mormons had to obtain permission from the Bishop of every Diocese, and certain Diocese reused that permission, hence there are huge gaps in Certain Counties, e.g.Cheshire. As the original microfiche records were published in County order this was more noticable, now in the online form at familysearch.org., it is not as obvious.
It is also worth noting that the IGI mainly only contains the Parish Records of the Church of England in England and Wales. It does not use many catholic or non-conformist records. These are registers that would need to be sought at CROs in addition to the entries on the IGI.

[dot.hawkes]

Any Reference Library should hold a hard copy edition of Palgraves Atlas and Index of parish Registers, which will tell you when the Parish started, where the records are kept and will also contain Parish maps for every County.

For non-conformist registers the Gibson Guide to Non-Conformist Records is great because it does the same as palgrave but county by county.

[dot.hawkes]

sorry i had to cut and paste my original reply into 3 and I lost some of the words but it took so long to type i can't remeber what bits I've cut out lol!

[Mochard]

I have found this website : http://freereg.rootsweb.com/
very useful as well when searching parish records.

Not all counties have been transcribed yet. I use it for Norfolk which is pretty well covered. Of course its best to double check at the records office if you can but definately a useful resource if you live far away.