WHAT ARE PARISH REGISTERS?

Not long after the Church of England was established, the law required incumbents to keep a record of all the baptisms, marriages and burials at which they officiated. Some records date from 1538, but most parishes did not start keeping them until around 1598.

Initially, the records were written on blank parchment bound into volumes; events were recorded chronologically. There was no direction about what information was to be recorded so early registers vary in content and format. In some registers, baptisms, marriages and burials appear in separate columns on the same page whereas in others they are grouped separately in different parts of the boo; some may have all three together in chronological order. Information supplied in these early registers also varied, though basic vital information was generally recorded.

Baptisms and burials had to be written into registers within seven days of the event. Marriages had to be written into the appropriate book at the time of the marriage. After 1754 as a result of Hardwicke’s Act, the law required that marriages be recorded in a separate book, and banns were also to be noted and recorded. Rose’s Act of 1812 introduced pre-printed separate registers for baptisms and burials and also amended the format of marriage registers.

Parish registers may not be available for the years 1642-1660 which was the period of the English Civil War and the subsequent Commonwealth, also known as the Interregnum. During this period, the hierarchy of the Church of England was disrupted so this meant that in some parishes records just do not exist!

Chapelries

Although the ecclesiastical parish is the basic geographic unit of the Church of England, some parishes were divided to serve churchgoers when the parish church was not easily accessible for them. These divisions were known as chapelries. They had the  same authority to perform baptisms, marriages and burials as the parent church, and most also kept their own registers.

There is another artcile on the website entitled The History of Parish Registers which provides more details on this topic.

Throughout the medieval period and the Middle Ages, the Julian Calendar was the standard system of keeping dates. The Gregorian Calendar was implemented in England in 1752, at which point the eleven days were taken from the month of September to standardise the English calendar with the rest of Europe. Thus, register dates for 1752 do not show dates between 2 September to 14 September.

The calendar change also changed the beginning of the calendar year from 25 March to 1 January. Some parishes adopted the new calendar before the official transition resulting in some register entries before 1752 showing dual entries for dates between 1 January and 24 March. For example, 10 February 1740 may be shown as 10 February 1740/41. This dual entry format is also used in most modern citations and should be adopted by family historians to avoid confusion.

Privately baptised - Some infants were baptised at home soon after birth, especially if it was feared that they might not survive, and a record made in the parish baptism register. Children of upper-class families might also be christened at home.

Received into the church - This relates to the ceremony when the child was publicly welcomed into the congregation. It is sometimes noted in the margin of a private baptism entry or could have a second entry a few weeks after the private baptism entry.

Late [surname] spinster - Clergyman sometimes included the mother’s maiden name in register entries. For example you might see Rachel Riches late Fendick, spinster.

Base born, natural son/daughter - This indicates that the child is illegitimate.

                                   The following tips are intended to help you with your research.: