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Once you have got as far back as possible using family tradition and certificates you will need to turn to the parish registers for information. You will usually find parish registers at the local County Record office and may find a transcript or microfilm copy at a major town library. Failing that try looking for parish registers at the nearest Genealogical library of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

In general births were not recorded but children were generally baptised within 2-3 months of their birth. These baptism records will usually give the name of the child's parents and their 'abode'. Use this information to find the marriage record of the parents. The marriage record will usually tell you the name of both parties and their parents names. use that to find the baptism records of the parents and so on. Incidentally after 1837 in England and Wales and after 1855 and 1864 in Scotland and Ireland, you will find that marriage records in a parish are the same as the records held by the Registrar and not nearly as expensive to look at.

Before you start looking through parish records you should have a clear idea of what you are looking for and have worked out a way of keeping the information you discover. This is where your pencil and hard backed notebook come in.

Here's a page from my own notebook. I was looking for the birth of Mary Barker, (who married George Chapman at Romaldkirk 1767), in Romaldkirk Parish Register. Now Mary could have been 16 at the time of marriage so it makes sense to start searching from the year 1751 although I would normally expect her age at marriage to have been around 20 and therefore her birth to be around 1747(before 1763 Mary could have been 12 or younger at her marriage). Once you have the parish register (or a transcript) in front of you begin by making a table recording the years searched, the register searched and the location of the register.
When looking at these records later this table tells me what records were searched, where they are, the names searched for and the years searched. In this case baptisms were searched from 1751 to 1704, marriages from 1751 to 1712, and burials from 1751 to 1704 .

Romaldkirk Parish Register microfilm copy in Leeds Public Library

Barker, Brown (1742-1704)

Year

1751

Bapt

Mar

Bur

Year

1727

- the record I was looking for

- Mary's parents marriage

- Mary's mother's baptism record

Notice that whilst looking for 'Mary Barker', all records with similar surnames were copied down. Also care should be taken not to use abbreviations which may later be confusing - does 'b' stand for born, baptised or buried?

It helps to understand the information in parish registers if you know a little of their history.

A short history of Parish Registers

Parish Registers were first ordered to be kept by Thomas Cromwell, Vicar General of King Henry VIII in 1538. Cromwell ordered that every parish must keep a register and that every Sunday, the Parson, in the presence of the wardens, must enter all the baptisms, marriage and burials of the previous week. The register was to be kept in a coffer with two locks. Failure to comply imposed a fine of 3s 4d (17p) which was to be spent on the upkeep of the church. The order was received with much suspicion - most people believed it was the forerunner for some new tax. Many parishes ignored it.

The order was repeated in 1547 during the reign of Edward VI but this time the fine was to go towards poor relief.

In 1557 the clergy were instructed to record the name of Godfather and Godmother. This was an attempt to stem the soaring divorce rate! At that time it was only necessary to state you had in error married your Godparent's son / daughter. In the eyes of the church this was your spiritual brother / sister and the marriage was spiritual incest and therefore invalid. Godparents were sometimes referred to as 'sureties', 'witnesses' or the old English 'gossib' or 'gossip'

In 1563 parliament passed an act which carried more weight. Records were to be kept in 'great decent books of parchment' and copies or 'Bishop's Transcripts' of new entries were to be sent each month to the diocesan centre. Previous entries in paper registers were to be copied into the new books. Paper was at the time much cheaper than parchment (which is made from animal skins) and in many cases loose sheets of paper had been used (which got lost). Over time some paper registers had deteriorated to the point where the registers were unreadable, a fact not helped by the home made ink of the time. Unfortunately the act stated that the costs involved were to be met by imposing charges for entries. This was strongly opposed by many clergy and the act was not enforced.

It was not until the ecclesiastical mandates of 1597 and 1603 that the act was enforced throughout the country. The parish was now to finance the registers and the books were to be kept in a chest with three locks. To ensure that records were kept properly the entries were to be read out each Sunday after evensong. Few of the early paper registers survive but those that do indicate the enormous task which faced those transcribing early paper registers. Often only the bare essentials were copied. E.g. one copied entry of St. Dunstan's West reads:
1560. February 17. Mr Rithe buried
the old paper register adds:
A benchar of Lyncolnes Yne, buryed out of the newe brycke byldyngs, beynge in oure parishe, the nether syde of Lyncolnes Yne

Registers were poorly kept during the English Civil war 1643 - 1647 and in the commonwealth period which followed it. Many were abandoned or hidden by the clergy and in some cases were lost completely. Durham has one register which was rediscovered and which sports a set of holes from the garden fork which dug it up. It was during this period that civil registers were set up and civil marriages allowed. Fees were charged for entries as follows:
          marriage 12d
          burial       4d
          birth        4d
(For those unacquainted with pre-decimal coins 1d = one 'old' penny = 1/240th of a pound = £0.0042)

Registers were returned to churches after the restoration of the monarchy in 1660.

In 1678 an act was passed making it compulsory for all corpses to be buried in a shroud made of wool only. This was to encourage the wool trade. An affidavit was to be made and recorded that this had been carried out. This was not a popular law since the poor could ill afford the shroud. Coffins incidentally were not used for burials until after 1797 by any other than the rich. It was the practice for the corpse to be taken to the grave in a parish coffin and then be removed for burial. A separate burial register was enforced from this date.

In 1694 the register entries were finally used as a tax to raise money for a war against France.
          marriage 2s 6d
          burial         4s
          birth           2s
(1s = one shilling = 1/20th of a pound = £0.05)
Even worse was a tax on all unmarried men of 1s per year! In 1696 an order was passed that a fine of £2 was to be imposed on all who did not report the birth of a child to the vicar within 5 days. Children who were not christened were to pay a tax of 6d to the vicar. Vicars who failed to record a birth were to be fined £2 for neglect. This highly unpopular tax was not abandoned until 1706 when it was realised that enforcing the penalties would ruin many clergy.

In 1711 an order was made that parish registers should be ruled and that pages should be numbered - generally ignored.

1733 a law was passed forbidding the use of Latin in parish registers.

1738 marked the commencement of Methodist registers. At the time the registers had to be hidden since they were illegal.

1751 was the year the calendar was reformed. Prior to this, the year commenced on Lady Day - 25th of March. So, in previous registers, December 31st 1750 would have been followed by January 1st 1750 and not 1751 as it would today.

1754 - Lord Hardwick's Marriage Act. This Act enforced a separate marriage register which was later pre-printed and had spaces for witnesses, the signature of the bride and groom, the condition and parish of the bride and groom and the signature of the minister. It also enforced banns and made clandestine marriages illegal. (No more jumping the broom). You can see an example of an early parish marriage register showing the entries for banns and marriage here. A later printed version from the Bishop Middleham, Durham, marriage register is shown below.

George Morrell of this parish
blacksmith

and   Margaret Pearson                                      of   this  parish

were married in this      church          by         Banns with consent of
                                                                 this            9th       day of
May        in the year One Thousand Eight Hundred and Twenty-Two
                by me  Geo. Briggs officiating minister

This Marriage was solemnised between us	George Morrell
	Margaret Pearson

In the presence of Wm Pearson
Hannah Eggleston

1763 the minimum age of marriage was fixed at 16

Prior to this date, the church accepted the marriage of girls aged 12 or more and boys aged 14 or more. In addition, a dispensation on licence could be obtained from a bishop which allowed marriage at a younger age. From 1763 a person below the age of 21 required the consent of parents to be married in England. An example of an early age marriage is this one from Burnley parish in Lancashire:

1582 Edmunde Tattersall of ye age of xiij yeares and Lettice Hargreves of thage of xvº yeares mar^d 14 May

1783 stamp duty

A stamp duty of 3d was placed on all entries and registers causing many families not to have children baptised. Paupers were exempt. Many entries of 'pauper' were made by the minister when parents would not pay. The duty was repealed in 1794.

1797 Bishop Shute Barrington entries

Bishop Shute Barrington was the bishop of Durham and Northumberland and also an amateur genealogist. He asked that all parish registers in Northumberland and Durham be kept in great detail. Here's a typical Bishop Shute Barrington baptism entry from Gainford parish register:

1805 - Margaret Chapman, born November 18, 1804, baptised March 31st 1805. Second daughter of John Chapman of Headlam, schoolmaster, (son of George Chapman) native of Lartington in the parish of Romaldkirk, Yorkshire, by his wife Mary Robinson (daughter of William Robinson) native of West Rounton, Yorkshire.

Bishop Shute Barrington entries affect only Northumberland and Durham for the years 1797 - 1812 but, offer valuable information and are worth looking for. Even if your ancestor was born outside these dates - look for the birth records of a sibling. Similar entries are to be found in many Scottish registers.

1812 Rose's Act

New printed baptism, marriage and burial registers were to be used by all parishes with separate volumes for each. Unfortunately, this meant the end of the very useful Bishop Shute Barrington records. The marriage register remained unchanged. Baptism and burial registers are as below:

Baptisms solemnized in the parish of Kirby Stephen In the county of Westmoreland In the year 1821
When Baptised	Child's Christian Name	Parent's Name		Abode	Quality, Trade or Profession	By whom the ceremony was performed
		Christian	Surname
November 5 1821	Richard Wilson	John Robinson and Sarah	Chapman	Headlam Nr. Gainford	Schoolmaster	George Blackett

Burials in the parish of Gainford In the county of Durham In the year 1849
Name	Abode	When buried	Age	By whom the ceremony was performed
John Chapman	Alwent	Feb. 26th 1849	81	Henry Church

Both forms of entry are still in use.

1853 Cemetery Act

By 1853, many churchyards were over crowded and an act of parliament was passed, which allowed towns to open cemeteries.

Points to watch for

Always look for a printed transcript of the parish register. Printed transcripts are much easier and quicker to read although you do have to rely on the accuracy if the transcriber. If you find the entry you are looking for then it's worth checking it against the original. If you don't find an entry but find the entries of siblings, again it's worth checking the original.
If you're really lucky, you might find a copy available on the Web. Try looking at http://www.freereg.org.uk.
Look for parish register transcripts or microfilm copies in the local library first. Failing that, check the County Record Office, failing that, look for a microfilm copy at a local genealogical library of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. As a last resort, check with the vicar of the parish concerned.
Early registers can be very hard to read. Usually the pages were not ruled. The ink quality was poor and the paper may be stained from mould. Often, separate sections of the register were started for baptisms, marriages and burials and sooner or later, ran into each other. You may find that baptism you're looking for mixed in with the marriages or burials.
Before 1733, the register may be written in Latin.
The style of writing has changed over the years and it takes practice to read early script.
Spelling varies tremendously. I have come across the same family's surname spelt three different ways on the same page by the same vicar. The rule seems to have been, 'spell it the way it sounds - add an 'e' if you feel like it'. To give you an example, I know of 44 different ways that the surname 'Dickson' has been spelt. In my own family, the surname 'Foggan' has been spelt with the last vowel as a, e, i, o, u, or y. It also has one or two g's and the first vowel has sometimes been replaced with an 'a' as in 'Fagin'.
If you're unable to find a parish register, (some have been lost), try looking for the bishop's transcripts. For Northumberland and Durham, these are held at the Department of Paleography in Durham University.

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