Introduction

Many other records are available from what is referred to as the parish chest, a large usually oak box to be found in many churches in which all the records of the parish were originally deposited. Important items of parish business were often found in them, see below, but these like the Parish Registers are normally found at the appropriate County Record Office.

A Look at some of the Records

Banns Books

Banns announcing a forthcoming marriage, is usually read, in the Parish Church, from the pulpit on the three Sundays before the event. This is to allow any objections to be aired. Where one of the parties is of a different Parish, then the Banns must be read there as well.

This procedure is acknowledged in the Book of Common Prayer. In England it was first ordered in 1200, confirmed by the Lateran Council in 1215.

Since 1754, the Banns have been recorded in the Registers.

Bastardy Records

These were papers kept by the overseers, between the 16th to 19th
Centuries of the Poor, regarding the parentage of Illegitimate children, and the efforts made to trace or contact the fathers concerned responsible for maintenance.

The Vagrant Act of 1575/6 laid down what the responsibilities of the father of a bastard child were, these provisions were enforced in1732/3 by an Act of Parliament, this imposed on the mother who was pregnant with a bastard child, the duty of not only declaring herself, but also naming the father. The records which were created by this declaration were kept in the Parish Chest.

The correct definition of a bastard was the base child of a father of noble or gentle blood, however the term is generally applied to an illegitimate child. Another definition is that of a child born out of wedlock, or of a couple whose marriage was later found to be invalid.

Bishop’s Transcripts

From 1598, the incumbent of a Parish was required to provide their Bishop with a transcript of entries in their Parish Registers. Not all the incumbents obeyed this order to the letter. Some were spasmodic, some not well maintained, as a result Bishop’s Transcripts, when found they do need checking against the original document.

Another problem that you can find is that the copying is not always accurate, due to misspelling, wrong dates, and other such errors.

That said where no original document exists, they can prove invaluable.

No transcript exist for 1649 to 1660, or “The Commonwealth Period” as it also known.

Charity Accounts

Many charities were established during the reign of Elizabeth the First in Parishes, both England and Wales. These charities were of many varying kinds.

Whilst the contribution to the poor was mainly food and clothing, documents detailing what was actually given, including those who contributed can be found in the accounts, as can the names of those who benefited. These accounts are located in a number of different places, but the best place to start would be the record office of the diocese to which the Parish belonged.

Churchwarden’s Accounts

According to Cripps, who wrote “The Law relating to the Church and Clergy” page 175, Churchwardens’ were defined as the proper keepers’ of the Parish Church.

This could help to explain why their accounts were so important to the records of a Parish Church.

They can be basically described as noting what expenditure is incurred on such items as maintenance, decoration, cleaning and providing for the services which were held.

The Churchwardens also often paid for such items as the shooting of vermin and birds. When I wrote the history of one of our local churches, on studying the accounts I came across an entry for “Paying 4d to remove urchins”. These were in fact hedgehogs, and not young children.

Glebe Terriers and Tithe Records

The glebe was land which was Farmed by the Parish Priest, it having been donated by parishioners, a glebe terrier was pronounced during an ecclesiastical visitation, when the land held by the incumbent was listed.

Tithes were originally payments made by parishioners to support the Clergy and the Parish Church, usually made in kind. However at an early date money become used instead, when land became enclosed in the eighteenth century.

This was still being done in 1836, when the Tithes Act was introduced, a tithe rent charge was introduced, the money payable was decided on a national basis.

Marriage Licenses

A marriage license when granted, allowed a marriage to take place without the calling of, or reading of banns. In 1604, it was laid down that licenses could only be issued by Archbishops and Bishops, and that bonds had to be guaranteed by sureties.

Lord Hardwicke’s Act of 1753 only allowed the granting of licenses when one of those who wished to marry had lived in the Parish for a period of four weeks, in 1824, this was reduced to fifteen days.

Miscellaneous Records – Civil and Ecclesiastical

It is known that the government requested from the Church information regarding the membership of the Church of England, or indeed the lack of it. The government were particularly interested in property belonging to, or owned by Roman Catholics, or those protestants, that were dissenters.

The survival of these records is very limited, the best bet would be again the Diocesan Record Office, then the records of the Quarter Sessions.

Parish Registers

These can be found detailed in the previous article.

Vestry Minutes

The Vestry is described as the room in which vestments are held and Parochial meetings are held. Another definition is that of a small room attached to a church.

It would appear that the origins of Vestry Meetings dates back to medieval times.

The minutes were taken to record the meetings which were held by parishioners it discussed and administer the functions needed to ensure the smooth running of both the church and the parish.

Conclusion

As will be appreciated these are but a few of the records that may be available for you to study, as you try to find out more about the lives of your ancestors.

Other documents include:

Petty Constables Accounts

Records of Highway Maintenance

Records of Open-Field Agriculture

Poor Law Records

To name but a few.

Forgive the brevity of the notes under those records mentioned, but as you will appreciate many words have been written about them, far beyond the scope of this article.

Should you wish to learn more about The Parish Chest, then I can recommend a book which I bought in a second hand book shop, well over twenty years ago, which was first published over fifty years ago.

It is “The Parish Chest” by W.L.Tate, it is full of interesting facts and figures, but would suggest only if you really want to study the contents, I am like a magpie and buy books just in case they might be of use one day!

We they do so hope that you have enjoyed this very brief look into the Parish Chest, please feel free to make any comments should you wish to they do so, they are always valued, as is the time that you take to make them.

The next article will be “10 – Online Sources”