This document was produced as a help text for the IGA Net conference
UK&I_GENE. It is not intended to be "all encompassing" but a guide
for people to start with. It is the first in what I hope will be 
a short series.

I can be contacted by email on:-

internet :-  nick.rowland@sunwharf.centron.com
Fido     :-  2:2501/307.30 or 2:2501/308.2
IGA NET  :-  440:240/309
Mercury  :-  240:150/14.2

Thank you 

Nick Rowland (B.A.) (M.B.A.)
1st draft 29th December 1994

==========================*******==========================================
                  
                  PARISH REGISTERS
                  ================

England and Wales.
------------------

Parish registers are the main source of data for family historians
for the period 1538 to July 1837 when National registration began.


Not all parishes commenced in 1538 nor have all the registers survived. 
Many are intact and most are to be found in County Record Offices (CROs),
essentially the more recent the date the better chance of the register 
being still available.  Some record offices have microfiched the registers
and these are available for open usage, (Suffolk, my local CRO have all
on fiche).  Some record offices will, with the permission of the local
Parson, supply individuals with fiche copies.

Until 1754 the records were kept in a rather haphazard fashion with
each clergyman or clerk having their own system. In 1754 printed forms
were introduced for marriages and 1813 for baptisms and burials.

Parish registers do not always record dates of birth or death, they
were (are) for recording church events. Many clergymen did however
make a note along with the Burial or Baptism of the date of death or
birth.

Marriages can also prove difficult to trace as many people married in
the brides parish or maybe an adjoining parish to that of their residence.
This can often be traced via Banns which are also recorded in a separate
book. These were usually read out in the churches of both bride and groom.

If people wanted to be married without publicity, (the Gentry favoured this)
they were married by Licence. These were issued by Archbishops, Bishops
and Archdeacons, and are separate from parish records but can also be found 
in some cases in CRO's.  However being diocesan records rather than
parochial, their "official" resting place is the Diocesan Record Office.
This may or may not be in the same location as the County Record Office.
For instance, the County Record Offices for Derbyshire, Shropshire,
Staffordshire and Warwickshire are in their respective counties, but the
Diocesan Record Office for all 4 of these counties is the Lichfield Joint
Record Office, where records relating to the former Lichfield Diocese, to 
which the 4 counties belonged, were housed.

N.B prior to 1752 the year began on March 25th, it is often the case
a child may be born in December and baptised in January of the same year.
Thus January 1714 would be January 1715 by today's calender. Also in
1752 the calender was "corrected" and 11 days were lost 3 - 14th September.

There is still a modern day hangover from this. The UK tax year starts on
5th April, which is 11 days from 25th March !

From 1561 clergymen were required to send a copy of their registers to their
Bishop. These "Bishops Transcripts" can also be found at Record Offices,
although again, they may be lodged separately at a Diocesan Record Office,
if this is separate.  Beware though, these are very incomplete as many Vicars
were not always totally dilligent. They are useful however if the original
register has not survived; and in some cases have been known to contain
events NOT recorded in an extant parish register! 

Various indexes were made:-

e.g.

Boyd's marriage index
Pallots index


Scottish Registers
-------------------

Very few registers survive prior to 1700 and those available are kept
at the General Register Office, Edinburgh.



Irish (Protestant) Registers
----------------------------

Registers were sent to Dublin in 1864, the building sadly burnt
down in 1922. However it appears that not all registers actually were 
sent in the first place and direct contact with the parish 
may be worth while.

==================================END DATA==================================

 I hope this is useful, if you want greater detail then let me know please.
 (Books have been written on this subject! so care please as well)

Nick