Introduction

You will need to bear in mind that because a Parish Church is there now it may not have always been the case. Here in South Derbyshire, Newhall consecrated in 1833, Woodville in 1846 and Swadlincote in 1847 are good examples. The good folk had to walk or thumb a lift on a horse and cart to travel to the ancient parishes of Gresley, Stapenhill, or Hawthorn, in order to be baptised, married or even buried, perhaps not to be buried but the mourners had to get there.

‘The Phillimore Atlas and Index of Parish Registers’ will be found to be an invaluable aid in helping to locate Parishes and their boundaries before the advent of Civil Registration. Included are indexes which list what has been recorded about a particular parish and the years which the entries cover.

As this book is very expensive to buy for all but the most serious student, the local library might be able to locate a copy for you to look at. When I bought mine over twenty years ago, it cost around fifty pounds.

When I began researching all those years ago, long before the Internet, the tool that I found to be of great use, was The International Genealogical Index, I have kept this in to aid those who come across it, should the need arise.

I did consider making this a separate article, but felt that it would get confusing if I did separate the two.

The International Genealogical Index:

The Church of Latter Day Saints [known universally as the Mormons] have produced a research tool which is called the International Genealogical Index, commonly known as the IGI. This index contains many baptisms and marriages
and whilst it is neither complete nor totally accurate, it is very helpful in guiding you in the right direction.

The reason that it is not complete is due to some members of the clergy refusing to allow the records to be copied. Errors are due to the fact that details were copied, from old hard to read documents which could have been wrongly transcribed in the first place, due to dialect, or lack of origin of the surname etc.

A wonderful yet simple example is ‘Jno’ which occurs with regularity through the IGI, it is simply ‘John’. It was mis-spelt in the transition from the use of Latin to English.

Surnames and their variants [Smith and Smiff] are listed under one heading which does help with a possible incorrect spelling, also they are in Christian name order.

A lot of libraries have microfiche versions of these. Whilst some will only have those for the local counties, the larger libraries and the ones which have a separate local studies building usually have the entire country.

The Church of Latter Day Saints [LDS] collects information on families, in such a way that they have millions of records in their underground storage vaults in Salt Lake City, USA. A lot of these can be viewed at the larger Churches of the LDS which are in various parts of this country. All have the IGI
on microfiche or CD-ROM, other records may be ordered from Salt Lake City and then viewed at the local Church, a small fee is usually payable.

Locally, here in the East Midlands there are library facilities attached to the LDS Churches at Lichfield, Loughborough and Nottingham.

A few years ago I was fortunate enough to obtain a microfiche reader, from a company that computerised, this means that I was able study such things in my own home as copies can be obtained from the LDS. At the time of writing these original notes (2000) they work out as little as 15 pence per sheet. Whilst they can only be bought in complete counties, the cost is still very reasonable.

My interests lies in some nine counties so for me it was a worthwhile and justifiable expense, certainly in view of the fact that I am trying to trace both our pedigrees which gives me a basic core of eight family names. Another benefit is that it gives me longer to study other documents when I visit libraries and record centres.

It is possible to obtain printouts of complete pages from the IGI to enable you to study all the ‘Fred Davis’ entries at your leisure. These can be copied at some of the places where you found the microfiche, or can be obtained by post from various agencies, which can be found both online and in Family History/Tree magazines.

A word of caution do ensure that any entry which you find is checked against the original parish register.

Many records held by the Church of Latter Day Saints can viewed over the Internet, again see the section on Computers.

When I became computerised, I donated my entire collection of fiche to the local library, complete with the Microfiche reader.

Note: The majority of the above notes have been taken from a booklet that I wrote some twenty odd years ago.

Parish Registers:

In addition to the IGI
where do you find Parish Registers, the obvious answer would appear to be the Church where the service was performed however, this is no longer the case in most Parishes. Strict guidelines are now in place to ensure that valuable documents such as Parish Records are kept in a secure place and under the correct conditions.

This means that the majority of Parish Records are now held in the County Record Office, and are available to be viewed by the general public. As space is usually limited in such places and the number of viewer screens usually small, booking is normally essential and always advised. Some Record Offices require a form of identification such as a reader’s ticket, so check when making the booking. Usually the only form of writing implement permitted is a pencil, so take a sharpener.

Only registers which are full are deposited at the Record Offices, so a check with the Church is often worthwhile.

You may wonder why a viewer is needed. To avoid the original registers suffering further deterioration most, if not all, Parish Registers
have been copied onto either microfilm or microfiche.

Never be daunted by a visit to such places as the staff are well-trained and very helpful. Do not be afraid to ask, but please remember they are not there to do your research for you, that is only available on payment of the prescribed fee.

If you are unable to visit a record office, many professional researchers will be happy to help. You will find them advertised in the family history magazines and their fees are usually reasonable. If unsure look to see if they are a member of the Association of Genealogists and Record Agents [AGRA].

It is possible that a copy of the records you seek may be held in the local library. I keep repeating this as a source for possible location of records, but it is one that is very much overlooked. Some years ago I was in the local studies section of Burton library reading microfilm of the census when one of the staff opened a drawer containing a quantity of microfiche. On asking what they contained I was shown the Parish Records and when I looked at them I found the marriage for my 2 times great-grandparents Allen!

The study of the original parish register can sometimes yield hitherto unknown information, if the incumbent at the time felt so inclined it was not unusual for comments to be attached to some entries. One example in the Newhall Parish Register under the Burial Register shows that one deceased was killed in a mining accident, another fell down a pit shaft. The baptisms can be colourful with remarks such as “alleged bastard of William Peace”.

These type of entries help to add meat to the bones of a bare skeleton family tree which then helps to give an insight into our ancestors as human beings rather than just another generation who bore the family name before we did.

When looking at the Baptism Register do bear in mind that it is the date of the baptism which is recorded not the date of birth, these can in some cases be several years apart. It was not unusual to have several offspring baptised on the same day. Ignorance of the law allowed some people to think it was cheaper to have children baptised in a job lot.

This was brought about by the Stamp Act of 1783, which required a duty of three old pence to be paid for each baptism, marriage or burial. This Act was destined to last for just ten years. A study of baptisms for the period reveals a sharp increase in the number of christenings prior to its commencement and a similar rise when it finished mainly in family groups with older children.

At other times however, ignorance of the Church and its customs led to many thinking that you had to pay to be baptised. [Some still do].

Baptism Registers in addition to the name of the child and the date that it was baptised usually contain the names of the father and the first name of the mother, the occupation of the father is also given. There is space to give the birth date of the child as well but this is usually blank. I have on the odd occasion seen the age of the child inserted, when it was not an infant, as with many such entries this does depend on the incumbent.

Entries in respect of a marriage are nearly as helpful as the modern Marriage Certificate in that they give the details of both fathers with their occupation, details of the couple and the names of the witnesses.

The Burial Register
is fairly bland giving just the name, age and abode of the deceased, the abode is usually filled in with the name of the village.

Parish Registers in general only began in 1538 and then not in every parish. When they were, they were often recorded in note books, many no longer exist.

When researching in the Devon Record Office, I came across some very early entries which were written on slate, it would appear in chalk.

Before leaving the Church and its records entirely one area you must never neglect is the churchyard itself, its headstones and what is written on them. These we refer to as Memorial Inscriptions. They can very often give a very detailed description of not only a person’s life and the exact date on which they died but if other members of the family are buried with them this information is also recorded and can lead to hitherto unknown family members.

Many graveyards have been recorded by local family history groups and their findings in the form of a printed booklet or a microfiche are available at reasonable cost. Buying such an item can save many hours of extra research.

Do remember even if you find an ancestor’s burial in the Parish Register it does not mean that they will have a headstone or if they do that it is legible. The reasons for this are endless, maybe the family could not afford one, maybe they just didn’t get around to having one erected, maybe it has eroded and is unreadable, maybe it no longer exists or sadly has been vandalised and removed as unsafe or even just removed because it has fallen.

The benefit of headstones
to family historians is shown in the following example of a relative of mine whose remains are interred at St. Cuthbert’s Doveridge:

In memory of George Rice

Who died Oct. 31 1868, aged 67 years

Also John Frederick Rice 3rd son of the above

Who died Oct 21st 1862 in his 15th year

Also of Mary relict of the above who died

May 18th 1881, aged 72 years.

This helps in our research because we now know where in the order of births to the couple John Frederick was so we do not have to spend time searching for the son in a marriage or on a census. If we were not aware of it before we also know that there are at least two older sons to search for.

Very often family graves can be found close together, the father of George Rice above being interred in the very next grave. I have found several examples of this particularly in the 19th century.

If you do find a headstone
and you think it may be of interest to you, make a note of all the details on it and its location within the graveyard. This serves two purposes, firstly you will know where it is should you need to return or show it to other members of the family, and secondly should it be destroyed, damaged or removed you will have a record of where it was.

So not forget to look inside the Church as many have memorial tablets, and most have tombstones, people are even buried under the floor in some Churches and have a memorial tablet laid into the floor above them. Don’t forget to look under the pews, as these are often a later addition.

You will often come across naming patterns such as John Henry. We have one family line which on the male side alternated with each generation from Joseph to George – this can be very helpful when you have more than one possible person to look at.

Another help in the name can be the use of a surname as a middle name – often this will prove to be the maiden name of the mother or grandmother and can be carried down for generations, particularly if it is unusual.

Other Denominations:

If you fail to find any trace of your ancestors where you think they should be try looking under other religions, Roman Catholic, Methodist, Baptist etc. It is surprising just how many ancestors were not Church of England, even if they were in the early days it does not mean that they did not prefer to worship somewhere else, people were not quite so tolerant of non-conformists as they are today.

My mother’s ancestors appeared to be all upright Church of England until I delved deeply, when I found them not only as Methodists, but Methodist preachers.

It is my intention to add articles on other denominations later on.

Since 1837 when civil registration began, a marriage in a non-conformist chapel can cause a problem because before 1898 such a ceremony had to be carried out in the presence of the local registrar. This can lead to the marriage being entered in his register but not that of the place where the marriage took place.

Conclusion

As always do so hope that you enjoyed this article on Parish Registers, we would love to hear your comments, we do value the time that you take to make them.

The nest article will be “9 – The Parish Chest”

Be Happy, Healthy and Wealthy

Stuart

https://familyhistorythestart.com