Author Topic: Meaning of "Entered in court" in Parish burial records  (Read 793 times)

Offline james52

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Meaning of "Entered in court" in Parish burial records
« on: Wednesday 23 August 17 10:58 BST (UK) »
While trawling through Orlingbury parish registers for information on the Langley family of that parish, I came across a few burial entries that had this term.

An example:
"1811
Jan 4th Benjamin Smith. Aged 51
Ent.d in court up to this date (Jan 4th) inclus.e"

Does anyone know what this means? I was guessing that when someone goes missing and no body is found, a court will declare them dead and this is some sort of record in lieu of an actual burial, but that's just a guess.


Offline Bookbox

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Re: Meaning of "Entered in court" in Parish burial records
« Reply #1 on: Wednesday 23 August 17 11:09 BST (UK) »
This sort of comment normally marks the point reached in the parish register when it was submitted to the bishop’s court for checking, e.g. at a visitation. It doesn’t relate specifically to the entry that is immediately above it.

Offline james52

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Re: Meaning of "Entered in court" in Parish burial records
« Reply #2 on: Wednesday 23 August 17 11:32 BST (UK) »
That makes more sense - thanks