ENGLISH GENEALOGY TIMELINE

1695 – The marriage tax imposed under the Marriage Duties Act 1695 was a tax not only on marriage but also on births and burials. There are only a few surviving marriage tax lists so you will need to check holdings with your local archives. This tax lasted until 1705.

1696 –Electoral registers were created to prevent electoral fraud. They give the name, residence, voting location and the contender that the person voted for. Only a person owning property worth at least forty shillings qualified as a voter.

1710 – Introduction of the apprenticeship tax which existed until 1811. Apprenticeships financed by parish or charitable funds were exempt from the tax. The duty collected for each apprenticeship was recorded in a series of register books; they mostly contain information on apprenticeships which originated between parents and a tradesperson master for a premium. Some tax entries occurred after the event.

1712 – The Stamp Act created a new tax on publishers, particularly of newspapers resulting in a large price increase; this obviously hit cheaper papers, which had a popular readership, harder than wealthy consumers. It was increased in 1797, reduced in 1836 and was finally abolished in 1855. The tax was implemented in order to raise funds for the English state lottery and to monitor the circulation of newspapers and other periodicals. The abolition of the tax enabled many provincial newspapers to be established and the existing newspapers to thrive. A valuable resource for family history research.

1714 – Chancery proceedings begin to be filed under the Six Clerk’s office. The Six Clerks and their under-clerks acted as the attorneys of the suitors. As business increased, the under-clerks became a distinct body. The office also facilitated Chancery claims by litigants including children and those suffering from mental illness.

1714 – Quarter Sessions records now include names of protestant dissenters and Catholic recusants for the first time.

1723 – Introduction of the Workhouse Test Act. The Act gave parishes the power to deny poor relief to anyone who refused to enter the workhouse. However, not all parishes had a workhouse and so they continued to give ‘outdoor relief’ to parishioners. The Act came about because of government concern at the number of prime age men applying for relief.

1732 – Army pay lists and muster books provide a valuable resource for tracing military ancestors. All regiments and corps compiled them. They provide dates of enlistment, movements throughout the world and discharge or death. The enlistment entry may show age. A non-effective entry (discharge or death) will show birthplace, occupation and relate to the date of enlistment of any soldier discharged or dead during the quarter. After 1868 a marriage roll was included giving information about wives and children for whom married quarters were provided.

1733 – Anglican parish registers began to be written in English rather than Latin. However, prior to this date some were already in English. Most English legal documents and church records prior to 1733 were written in Latin. In the early eighteenth century it is thought that around ninety per cent of the population were recorded somewhere in Anglican records.

1734 - Introduction of annual business directories beginning in London although other large towns and cities began to publish directories a few years later., Most business directories list individuals engaged in local occupations as well as providing historical and topographical information. Publication of annual directories became popular from the early 1800s onward.

1740 - The first official Army list was published. After 1754 they were published annually and from 1879 the lists were published on a quarterly basis. A rough outline of an army officer's career can be created using the army lists. Some restrictions may exist for periods of war.

1752 – Change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar.

1754 – Hardwicke’s Marriage Act provided for a standard format in parish marriage registers. Prior to this, clergyman had no specific instructions about what should be recorded in parish registers. After the Marriage Act came into force, clandestine marriages were prohibited and all marriages required publication of banns or needed a license. Only Jews and Quakers were exempt so all other nonconformists had to marry in the Anglican church until the start of civil registration in 1837.

1757 - Militia regiments were established throughout England and Wales. Each parish had to maintain militia ballot lists of adult males between eighteen and fifty years of age (reduced to forty-five years in 1762) who were eligible for military service. Not all the lists survived. As a partial population list, they are a valuable resource.

1760 – The start of the Industrial Revolution which resulted in migration from rural to urban areas. Many of our ancestors relocated often under the auspices of the Poor Law.

1764 – Houses in streets began to be numbered making it easier to identify addresses on maps. Numbering systems changed over the years from consecutive numbers to odds and evens. As streets expanded, many houses were renumbered which may mean that families remained in the same house but with a different address.

1777 – Male servants' tax introduced which lasted until 1852. The tax was levied on those employing male servants; but those engaged in husbandry, trade or manufacture were exempted. Servants' names were not always recorded.

1782 – The Poor Relief Act, also known as Gilbert's Act, made provision for groups of parishes to form unions so that they could share the cost of poor relief through union 'poor houses' which were established to look after the old, the sick and the infirm. Able-bodied paupers were excluded from the poorhouses and were provided with outdoor relief. This effectively reversed Knatchbull’s Act of 1722.

1783 - A tax of 3d was levied on all baptism and burial entries in parish registers except those of paupers. Incumbents were allowed to collect a small fee for their services. This resulted in a significant drop in events recorded.  After the Act was repealed in 1794, families then rushed to carry out "block" baptisms of their children . A notation in an entry during the period indicated that the tax had been collected. A large letter P indicates paupers who were exempt the tax.

1787 – Convict Transportation to Australia began.  The first eleven ships left in May 1787 from Portsmouth with 736 convicts on board. From 1654 some convicts were sent to the British colonies to work in America and Bermuda instead of being executed. Transportation continued until the 1860s.

1795 – Introduction of the Speenhamland System. This was an economic relief for the poor that was adopted throughout England following a decision by magistrates at Speenhamland in Berkshire. The aim was to raise a working man’s income out of the parish rates through an allowance based upon the price of three loaves a week for each man plus the price of eleven to twelve loaves each for a wife and child. The system lasted until the introduction of the new poor law in 1834.

1798 – The Posse Commitatus was a follow-up to militia lists. The lists record the reserves of men who were tasked with the evacuation of the civilian population if England was invaded by the French. The lists include all able-bodied men in a parish aged between fifteen and sixty years of age and who were not already serving in the military.

1801 – The first national census was taken but this was just a head count with little genealogical information. Many pre-Victorian censuses in 1810, 1821 and 1831 have not survived but do check availability locally as some do still exist.

1801 – Ireland joins the rest of Great Britain to form the United Kingdom.

1813 – Baptism and burial registers were standardised within the Anglican church as a result of he Rose's Act. Slight changes were also made to the format of the marriage registers. The format for both baptism and burial registers introduced in 1813 still exist today.

1834 – Introduction of the New Poor Law through the Poor Law Amendment Act which created the Union Workhouse. The Poor Law system had its origins in medieval times. The 1834 Act transferred responsibility for the administration of poor relief from the ecclesiastical parish to the civil Poor Law Unions. Poor law records both before and after 1834 provide prolific information about our ancestors. Everyone seeking relief had to submit to the workhouse regime.

1836 – Marriage Act.  Nonconformists could now marry in their own meeting houses if a registrar was present. Marriage licenses also became easier to obtain. Implemented from the start of civil registration.

1837 – On the 1 July 1837 civil registration commenced for registration of births, marriages and deaths. The country was divided into 618 registration districts. All marriages were recorded by the person performing the marriage ceremony, irrespective of their religion. Births were supposed to be registered within six weeks but a significant number of births went unrecorded in the early years of civil registration. Most families had their children baptised. All deaths were recorded because only then could the deceased be buried. All events were registered in the area that the event took place which could be different from a home area.

1841 - This was the first of the Victorian censuses to provide limited personal information. Enumerators could only record one forename for every person in the house. People often gave their everyday name or nickname instead of the one recorded in official records. No relationships were recorded and anyone in the family not at home on census night was not supposed to be enumerated.

1849 - Birth, marriage and death of British subjects residing in foreign countries began to be recorded by British consulates.

1849 – The Royal Naval Biographical Dictionary was published and gives details of the life and services of every living Royal Navy officer serving or retired by 1845. Nearly 5,000 officers are included. This is the most comprehensive record of early navy officers.

1851 – The first census to contain useful personal information including actual ages, relationships and places of birth. People would usually be honest about this information but were not averse to fabrication if they genuinely did not know the answer to information requested or were scared of being relocated to their parish of settlement if living in a different area. Birthplaces on this and subsequent census returns were not always correct. Censuses have been taken every ten years between 1841 and 1921 and are available for research. Different information may exist in the various returns depending upon the requirements of government at the time.

1853 – Smallpox vaccination lists. In 1850s, the government passed a series of laws that made vaccination against smallpox compulsory. Some people supported vaccination while others objected to it. Anti-vaccination sentimets reached full force in the 1890s with the formation of National Anti-Vaccination League. Upon birth registration, the local registrar informed the vaccination officer so he could make sure that vaccination took place. Hence, some people did not register the birth of their children.

1858 – Before 1858 Probate matters were the responsibility of the Anglican ecclesiastical courts but on 11 January 1858 administration of probate matters was centralised by the government into one central court system for England and Wales. To identify a will or administration, the National Probate Calendar can be searched online. Divorce laws, albeit limited in scope, were introduced.

1870 – Elementary Education Act outlined the basis of schooling of all children between the ages of five and twelve years in England and Wales. School boards were created with entry registers detailing all children and when they entered school. Boards were elected by ratepayers. Finance was from a locally imposed rate. The provisions of the Act were extended by a second Act in 1880 obliging local authorities to make by-laws requiring school attendance.

1875 – Registration of births was made compulsory. Between 1837 and 1875 the responsibility rested with the registrar to obtain birth and death information. From 1875 the legal responsibility was on the witnesses to a birth (usually a parent) or death to register the event. Parents sometimes falsified the date of birth to avoid having to pay a fine if they registered a birth after six weeks.

1885 – Cremation was made legal in England and Wales. In 1878, the Cremation Society bought a plot of land next to Brookwood Cemetery in Woking, Surrey but it was some time before the newly built crematorium could be used. In 1884 a case came before the courts that paved the way for legal cremations.

1892 - Ellis Island Immigration Station opened in the USA and around 450,000 people, many British and Irish, passed through in the first year of operation. It became the gateway for British emigration with many passing over the border to Canada via Niagara. Extensive records of emigrants exist for this and its predecessor Castle Gardens. Ellis Island did not close until November 1954.

1911 – The 1911 census was taken. This was sometimes known as the “fertility census” because the census showed the length of time a couple had been married and the number of children living and dead. A valuable resource for identifying children which may not have been discovered in previous research or were born and died between census years.

1927 – Records begin for legal adoptions. Before 1927 there was no such thing as a legal adoption in England. When used, the term usually meant guardianship or foster parenting. After 1927 the government legalized the process of adoption. Both adoption and original birth certificates are available, but restrictions apply to those seeking adoption information.

1939 - The 1939 Register is a valuable census alternative giving a snapshot of the civilian population of England and Wales at the start of the Second World War. The information was used to issue identity cards and ration books. Information in the register was also used to administer conscription and control the movement of the population caused by military mobilisation and mass evacuation. It does not include service personnel in military, naval and air force establishments including members of the armed forces billeted in private homes. It does include dates of birth and details of occupations of those recorded.