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England Church Records: Difference between revisions
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=== Bishop's Transcripts<br> === | === Bishop's Transcripts<br> === | ||
In 1530, King Henry VIII established the Church in England, also known as the Anglican Church, the State Church, or the Episcopal Church. A law passed in 1537 required ministers to record the baptisms, marriages, and burials that took place in their parishes. Priests recorded these events in registers and kept them at the parish level, which is the lowest level of authority in the Church of England. Within some parishes, chapelries were created to provide for the worship needs of the parishioner when the parish church was not easily accessible. Chapelries sometimes had the authority to perform baptisms, marriages, and burials, so they kept their own registers. Several parishes formed a deanery (presided over by a dean), several deaneries formed an archdeaconry (presided over by an archdeacon), and several archdeaconries formed a diocese (presided over by a bishop). | |||
Beginning in 1598, ministers were required to send copies of their registers to an archdeacon or bishop annually. These copies are referred to as bishops’ transcripts, or sometimes archdeacon transcripts. As a result, two copies of many parish registers exist from 1598 to about the mid-1800s. After civil registration began in 1837, the value of keeping bishops’ transcripts diminished, so by 1870 most parishes had stopped making them. | |||
Banns are proclamations of an intent to marry. After 1754, these banns were required to be read for three consecutive Sundays before a marriage so that anyone with reasons against the marriage could oppose it. Banns were read in both the bride’s parish and the groom’s parish. The vast majority of the English population belonged to the Church of England. Only since the mid 19th century have other religious groups made headway. | |||
Bishop's transcripts should be an exact copy of the parish register but they often are not. This may be because: | |||
*The minister was saving time and space by abreviating entries when copying them. | *The minister was saving time and space by abreviating entries when copying them. | ||
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Archdeacon transcripts exist for many Kent County parishes--some as early as 1560. | Archdeacon transcripts exist for many Kent County parishes--some as early as 1560. | ||
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=== Parish Chest Records === | === Parish Chest Records === | ||