Author Topic: English Parish Records Index  (Read 2449 times)

Offline ribower

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English Parish Records Index
« on: Sunday 30 September 18 00:36 BST (UK) »
I can't believe that this question isn't already out there, but I am new to English parish records and am trying to figure out IF they are index searchable, HOW MUCH so (indexing complete), and WHERE to do the searching. Mystified. :o

Offline warncoort

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Re: English Parish Records Index
« Reply #1 on: Sunday 30 September 18 01:14 BST (UK) »
Have you read the resources section of this board?
Butcher Westmorland and Lancashire
Barton Westmorland and Yorkshire
Trethowan,Reeves Middlesex
Halsall,Green,Charters,Chatterton Lancashire
Smith, Moger, Maxfield Wiltshire
Woods,Speechley and Coles Huntingdonshire
Gibson,Blanks,Monk,Fokes Essex

Offline SelDen

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Re: English Parish Records Index
« Reply #2 on: Sunday 30 September 18 05:52 BST (UK) »
Welcome to Rootschat, Ribower.

Could you explain in a bit more detail what you are looking for, e.g. where in England. Do you have an idea of which county, city, or town or parish you are looking for?

What dates are you interested in? Could you perhaps provide a specific name to start with and perhaps someone will be able to use that as an example to show you what is available on line (it varies depending on location).

Just remember no site is complete and the local experts on the county boards on Rootschat will be able to help with local sources. As you probably know, an index is just a finding aid  - you need to sight the original record or an image of it.

Another proviso - parish records are just that - records pertaining to the parishes of the Church of England. In some parts of the country significant proportions of the population may have been non conformist and belonged to other denominations. This is particularly important for baptisms. Between 1754 and 1837 legal marriages in England had to take place in the Church of England, with exceptions for Jews and Quakers who kept their own excellent records. Before municipal cemeteries started up, non-conformists may have had no other option than burial in a C of E burial ground.

Some free sites to get you started:
Www.genuki.org.uk - this provides useful information and links
Familysearch.org - you need to register but this is free.
Www.freereg.org.uk - a volunteer project, check to see what areas and periods are covered.
Www.ukbmd.org.uk - provides links to a number of transcription sites including online parish clerks.

Civil registration started mid 1837 in England and Wales.
See www.freebmd.org.uk for a transcribed and searchable index.
You can use these references to order certificates directly from the GEneral Register Office www.gro.gov.uk
The GRO now also has its own online index for births and deaths which provides the mother’s maiden name for births and the age for deaths. It is much clumsier to search however so you may wish to use a combination of FreeBMD and the GRO index.

The big pay sites have various collections of parish and other records - Ancestry and Find MyPast. They have different strengths in coverage so it depends on where you are looking.

There are other sites focussed on particular regions.

Good luck with your research.

SD






Offline nanny jan

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Re: English Parish Records Index
« Reply #3 on: Sunday 30 September 18 06:39 BST (UK) »
Some counties have an online parish clerk website, run by volunteers so coverage varies. An example is Dorset:

http://www.opcdorset.org/

If you scroll to the end of the home page there are links to the other counties with similar sites.
Howard , Viney , Kingsman, Pain/e, Rainer/ Rayner, Barham, George, Wakeling (Catherine), Vicary (Frederick)   all LDN area/suburbs  Ottley/ MDX,
Henman/ KNT   Gandy/LDN before 1830  Burgess/LDN
Barham/SFK   Rainer/CAN (Toronto) Gillians/CAN  Sturgeon/CAN (Vancouver)
Bailey/LDN Page/KNT   Paling/WA (var)



All census look-ups are crown copyright from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk


Offline Vance Mead

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Re: English Parish Records Index
« Reply #4 on: Sunday 30 September 18 08:34 BST (UK) »
There isn't a complete index of all parish records. Probably the most complete is the IGI (International Genealogical Index).

You can search:

https://www.freereg.org.uk

https://www.familysearch.org/search/hr/search

Familysearch has both IGI batch numbers, which should be pretty accurate, and user-submitted files, which often are not.

To find out which IGI batch numbers are available, Google, for example: IGI batch numbers Devon.

Not all parish registers survive, particularly before 1600 and during the Civil Wars and Commonwealth. And some parish records exist but have not been indexed. Just one example is Henley on Thames, Oxon. The originals are at the County Record Office in Oxford and there are transcriptions in the library of the Society of Genealogists.
http://www.sog.org.uk

On edit: I see Selden has posted some of this above, so sorry for the repetition.

Mead - Herts, Bucks, Essex
Pontifex - Bucks
Goldhurst - London, Middx, Herts
Kellogg/Kelhog - Essex, Cambs

Offline iluleah

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Re: English Parish Records Index
« Reply #5 on: Sunday 30 September 18 10:33 BST (UK) »
Hi and welcome to rootschat  ;D

As already said it might be worth your time reading the resources section that have already been added in detail such as http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=480454.0
Leicestershire:Chamberlain, Dakin, Wilkinson, Moss, Cook, Welland, Dobson, Roper,Palfreman, Squires, Hames, Goddard, Topliss, Twells,Bacon.
Northamps:Sykes, Harris, Rice,Knowles.
Rutland:Clements, Dalby, Osbourne, Durance, Smith,Christian, Royce, Richardson,Oakham, Dewey,Newbold,Cox,Chamberlaine,Brow, Cooper, Bloodworth,Clarke
Durham/Yorks:Woodend, Watson,Parker, Dowser
Suffolk/Norfolk:Groom, Coleman, Kemp, Barnard, Alden,Blomfield,Smith,Howes,Knight,Kett,Fryston
Lincolnshire:Clements, Woodend

Offline Blue70

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Re: English Parish Records Index
« Reply #6 on: Sunday 30 September 18 11:11 BST (UK) »
There is no central index providing transcriptions/images of parish records for England. Records are kept in local archives/record offices. Some websites have a lot of transcriptions and images for various counties/parishes but they are not complete. When people refer to parish records they usually mean church records of various denominations. Local archives/record offices will have records not only for Church of England parishes but also records from Catholic churches, Non-Conformist congregations etc. If you are looking to do a general search of England and don't know the county/parish of origin try searching on Family Search or Ancestry. 


Blue 

Offline Guy Etchells

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Re: English Parish Records Index
« Reply #7 on: Sunday 30 September 18 12:20 BST (UK) »
There isn't a complete index of all parish records. Probably the most complete is the IGI (International Genealogical Index).

You can search:

https://www.freereg.org.uk

https://www.familysearch.org/search/hr/search

Familysearch has both IGI batch numbers, which should be pretty accurate, and user-submitted files, which often are not.

To find out which IGI batch numbers are available, Google, for example: IGI batch numbers Devon.

Not all parish registers survive, particularly before 1600 and during the Civil Wars and Commonwealth. And some parish records exist but have not been indexed. Just one example is Henley on Thames, Oxon. The originals are at the County Record Office in Oxford and there are transcriptions in the library of the Society of Genealogists.
http://www.sog.org.uk

On edit: I see Selden has posted some of this above, so sorry for the repetition.



Aaargh!
I thought that completely wrong designation was dead and buried.

The IGI was never an index of parish registers, the IGI (Previously known as The Computer File, the name was changed in about 1976 when it appeared in microfiche form in the USA and for the first time in the UK) is, and was an index of the ordinances of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) there is a huge difference between that and it being an index of parish register.

For years many ignorant genealogists complained to the LDS that the IGI was inaccurate and/or incomplete not realising that the IGI was in fact both accurate and complete and they were in fact trying to use it for the wrong purposes.

In modern terms it was akin to people complaining that the 1939 National Registration is an incomplete census (As people know the 1939 National Registration is not and was not a census).

Cheers
Guy
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Offline stanmapstone

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Re: English Parish Records Index
« Reply #8 on: Sunday 30 September 18 13:56 BST (UK) »
If it is of any interest, "What is the International Genealogical Index"
http://www.genealogy-britain.org.uk/index.php/links-topmenu-30/igi

Stan
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