England Church Records: Difference between revisions

Church records are the main source for identifying people prior to 1837 when civil registration began. It is also a main source after 1837 in conjunction with civil registration. . Each local parish was responsible to register all marriages, baptisms and burials starting in 1538. .  

Although a nationwide order was given in 1538 that each parish keep a register of baptisms, marriages, and burials, many parishes did not start to keep registers until later and some early records have since been lost or destroyed. Beginning in 1598, copies of entries from many parishes were copied and sent annually to the bishop for the diocese for that area and these copies are known as Bishop’s Transcripts or BTs. For Lincolnshire and Norfolk, many Bishop's transcripts began as early as 1561. Archdeacon transcripts exist for Kent as well;&nbsp;some as early as 1560.<br>  

'''Chapelry.''' A small parochial division of a large, populated parish. Most chapels or chapelries kept their own registers of baptisms and burials, and where authorization was granted, marriages were performed and&nbsp;registers&nbsp;kept. Occasional parishes throughout England, but especially most&nbsp;of&nbsp;Lancashire's approximately 75 parishes, and many&nbsp;in&nbsp;Cheshire, Greater London, and Yorkshire counties consisted of&nbsp; numerous chapelries. For example, England's largest parish of Manchester (the Cathedral), was not the only church standing within its own boundary as it was comprised of over 150 smaller chapels many of ancient origin prior to 1880 (see Lewis' [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/source.aspx?pubid=445 ''Topographical Dictionary of England'']&nbsp;for pre-1848&nbsp;and, for post-1848 chapelries--see the [http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/descriptions/index.jsp ''Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales''] for even more). To view all those chapelries attached to and lying within England's largest parishes, see the "[[Comprehensive Lists of Lancashire's Chapelries in Its Largest Cities and Township Parishes|Comprehensive Lists of Chapelries in Its Largest Cities and Township Parishes]]" under the names of each of England's large city parishes.  

'''Ecclesiastical Parish or Church'''. A church or chapel as part of or subdividing an ancient parish boundary, but usually standing within the same large town or township as the ancient or 'mother' parish.  

'''Diocese.''' Many parishes are grouped together under the jurisdiction of a bishop. A bishop heads a diocese. Some dioceses include one or more archdeaconries administered by an archdeacon. These may be divided into ''rural deaneries,'' headed by a rural dean. Each deanery consists of several parishes.  

* The parishes entry on the FamilySearch Catalog is usually complete up to 1837

===  Best England Websites  ===

=== IGI ===

Many years ago FamilySearch created a major index called the International Genealogical Index or IGI. It contained at the time, both indexed/extracted church register name entries as well as patron submitted names of their ancestors. About 10 years ago, the more reliable extracted church register entries of baptisms and marriages were incorporated into the most current FamilySearch databases. In other words, when searches are run in the [https://www.familysearch.org/search FamilySearch search engine], you are searching the old IGI extracted church record entries. The current IGI as it now stands, contains mostly the old (lesser reliable) patron-submitted name entries. When you conduct a search in the FamilySearch.org search engine, you are also searching the extracted portion of the old IGI datafile. The IGI does not contain images, and has only a very small fraction of the records. The IGI is best used as a starting point before obtaining images for confirmation and further information.   

* [https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1473014 England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975], index, incomplete. Also at [http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=9841 Ancestry.com],  [http://www.myheritage.com/research/collection-30042/england-births-christenings-1538-1975?s=218489221 MyHeritage], ($)

===Other Sites ===  

*[http://www.freereg.org.uk/ Free Registers]- Online transcripts of baptisms, marriages, &amp; burials, the sister project of FreeBMD and FreeCEN

*Online Parish Clerks(OPCs) For each county an OPC site is run by volunteers to make church records freely available online. See for example the [http://www.lan-opc.org.uk/ Lancashire OPC]

=== Index to Clergy ===

If your ancestor was a clergy member in the Church of England you may find them listed in The "[http://ccedb.cch.kcl.ac.uk/index.html Clergy of the Church of England Database]." This is being funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council.

== Archives  ==

 

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