Parish registers and IGI

[Clincher]

Has anyone ever compared the baptisms or marriages or burials for a particular parish with the corresponding IGI entries for that parish?
If so, what was your conclusion about accuracy?
Did you find that all the entries for the defined period were included in the IGI?

[MaryA]

You definitely have a point there, something I haven't done, however, I have found an error.

There is a birth entry for a John Lunt connected on the IGI to a death four years later.  Since I had a will dates a number of years later, mentioning this John I didn't know how to disprove the death.  But on checking the actual registers the birth entry gives the father's occupation as tailor and the occupation for the father of the death entry to be joiner.

I'm trusting that this proves the IGI to be in error.

Mary

[behindthefrogs]

Firstly the most inaccurate are some of the private entries, many of which are just guesses.  I have found examples of these which are many years out and totally inaccurate.

The IGI is often taken from the bishops transcripts which themselves are copies of the originals and miss out bits of detail.  The bishops transcripts were also used as the basis of the books of parish registers published around 1900.  These seem to be a major source of the IGI and introduce another level of error.

In the case one particular marriage, for which I have had trouble with finding the correct surname for the bride I traced through the IGI, bishops transcript, original register and the banns book.  I could actually see the name changing as it went from register, to transcript, and then to the published book.  The IGI obviously came from the book as it copied its error.

Unfortunately the vicar who scrawled the register entry also scrawled the banns book entry.  Even the person who produced the  transcript couldn't read it.  The person who produced the book didn't know about the long S.

Yes the IGI does contain errors omissions and even the odd addition from the original register.

David

[Clincher]

Thanks for your views. I'm grateful to the LDS people for the work they have done for the benefit of family historians but I suppose they are not infallible -like any other transcriber.

[Lendevon]

The Devon entries all come from transcriptions made during the 1920s by the Devon & Cornwall Record Society and are therefore at the very least transcriptions of transcriptions. Errors are almost bound to occur.

[SamiW]

The IGI is often taken from the bishops transcripts which themselves are copies of the originals and miss out bits of detail.  The bishops transcripts were also used as the basis of the books of parish registers published around 1900.  These seem to be a major source of the IGI and introduce another level of error.

David, may I just ask where the Bishops' transcripts are kept?  And can anyone view them?

Best
Sami W

[behindthefrogs]

The bishops transcripts were sent to the diocese and kept in the cathedral archives.  Some of these have been deposited in the local record office for the cathedral and some are still in cathedral archives.  I believe there is a Gibson Guide published by the Federation of Family History Societies which shows where they can be found.  You may find your local FHS has this on sale for a few pounds.

They were deposited each Easter and occasionally contain entries not in the register.  This  is due to the practice of some incumbents of keeping the details in rough and copying them into the register and the transcript from the rough notes.

They are more difficult to find, less accurate but can be useful as replacements for missing registers.

David

[annaandchester]

I think the IGI can be a good starting point but like anything if you want to tknow what you have is right then you have to research it yourself.

Anna x