English Parish Register Records

English Parish Register records can provide a lot of wonderful information and are indispensable for finding information about people prior to civil registration in 1837. Of course, as always, looking at the originals is best but those of us who live across the pond are likely to be limited to viewing transcriptions.  Below are some tidbits I've learned about parish registers (these apply to the standard Church of England registers.)

What is a parish? So what is a parish? It is the church jurisdictional unit. (English towns have a variety of jurisdictional units civil, regions, parish, postal, etc.) It is important to understand what parish covers the area you are researching. Not every town has their own parish and some of the bigger towns have more than one. Parish lists can be found in several places on the Internet  including familysearch.org.

Parish Registers. Some parish records go back as early as 1583 but many did not start that early and many have been destroyed. Starting in 1598, copies were sent to the Bishop (Bishop's Transcripts.) Christenings (baptisms), marriages and burials were recorded as were poor registers or Parish Chest Records. Typically, anyone addressed as Mr. or Mrs. in a parish record was considered a gentry. Some parishes included more information than others. As with anything, some parish registrars were lazier than others and only did the minimum required.

Baptismal Records.  Baptisms usually occurred within 2-3 weeks of birth - but not always. The lack of an entry does not mean the child was not baptized.  In 1653, the law required that births be registered rather than baptisms. But this was not always followed. Early registers would give the infants name and christening date. Sometimes birth dates were also included. Later on, parents names were included along with occupation of father. Illegitimate children were frequently referred to as "base."

Marriage Records.  Marriages usually occurred after the banns had been published. Marriages typically took place in the the parish of the wife. If a bride and groom lived in different dioceses, the couple had to apply to the Vicar General of the Archbishop of the province - either Canterbury or York.

In 1753, a standard form for entry of marriages was required. Every marriage was supposed to be preceded by the issuance of a license or the calling of banns in the parish where at least one person resided.  Entries had to be signed and witnessed.

Marriage records typically included the date and names of the bride and groom. At a later date, witnesses and other information was also provided.

Banns. The minister was required to announce or post their intent to marry for three consecutive Sundays. This gave people a chance to object to the marriage. Banns are sometimes recorded in separate registers.  Posting of banns does not mean that the marriage took place.

Burial Records. The use of the word "interred" in the register may mean that the person was a Roman Catholic or an excommunicate or suicide. Burials took place shortly after death. Sometimes age and parents name or other information is provided.

The Woolen Shroud Acts of 1666 and 1678 required that a person be buried "in wool."  Many times you will see the word "affid" or "a" or "aff" after the burial entry. This meant they had sworn an affidavit that they were being buried in pure English wool.

Some abbreviations you might encounter:

• OTP - Of the Parish
• BOTP - Both of the Parish
• WID - widow
• B - Bachelor
• SP - Spinster
• PTELY - Privately
• BAP - baptised
• PSH = parish
• S - son
• d - daughter

Parish records can be located on Ancestry.com, familysearch.org, findmypast.co.uk and various other sites. You can also order cds and printed transcriptions from the various county historical societies.