Wales Church Records: Difference between revisions

[[Image:Neath Abbey, Glamorgan, Wales.jpg|thumb|right|200x230px|<center>Neath Abbey, Glamorgan, Wales<center>]]Copies of parish registers may be available in manuscript or published form. These copies include transcripts and abstracts, some of which may have errors or omissions. Compare the transcript to the original parish register, if available.The Findmypast website has indexed most of the parish registers for Wales. A list of parishes not included is available [[Welsh_Parish_Registers_Not_Published_Online|'''here''']].<br>

Individuals and societies collect and compile copies of parish registers. Both the Society of Genealogists in London and the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah have major collections of such records.

 

'''Bishop’s Transcripts.''' Each year, beginning in 1598, a copy of the parish register was made and sent to the bishop of the diocese. These copies are called bishop’s transcripts. Bishop’s transcripts were meant to be exact, but entries were sometimes abbreviated and may contain additional or variant information from that found in the parish registers. If the original register has been lost, the transcript may be invaluable as the only source of information. In Wales these transcripts survive from about 1662. Most begin in the eighteenth century and have many years missing. Search both bishop’s transcripts and parish registers, when available, because of the differences that may exist between them.