REQUESTS FOR PARISH REGISTER LOOK-UPS - IMPORTANT INFORMATION

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PLEASE READ THIS INFORMATION TOPIC BEFORE YOU REQUEST A PARISH REGISTER LOOK-UP


There are very few Rootschatters who visit either archives or local studies to do look-ups for the London & Middlesex boards.

The number of outstanding requests on the London & Middlesex boards runs into hundreds, which is regrettable, but a result of the above.

London was and is a city of millions of people with many many parish churches. Finding parish register entries for events before the earliest census can be extremely time-consuming. Please remember that those who do look-ups, give their time freely but may incur costs for fares and/or carparks. Please do not take advantage of their generosity. We are aware that look-up charges can be made by archives/local studies centres. It would be unreasonable and naďve to think you can always obtain information free of charge.

This message is posted to ensure you understand the situation and make sure that you, for your part, have done everything you can to trace your ancestors before requesting a look-up.

Before you start, do some research on the parish and its churches, especially if you are unsure of where in London & Middlesex the parish is

http://homepages.gold.ac.uk/genuki/LND

http://homepages.gold.ac.uk/genuki/LND/parishes.html

http://homepages.gold.ac.uk/genuki/MDX

http://homepages.gold.ac.uk/genuki/MDX/Where/index.html

http://homepages.gold.ac.uk/genuki/MDX/ParishIndex.html


There are some excellent outline parish maps on the genuki site (www.genuki.org.uk), showing boundaries and listing the churches with their consecration dates.

For example, St Marylebone

http://homepages.gold.ac.uk/genuki/MDX/StMarylebone/outline.htm

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Civil registration started 1st July 1837 and each registration district covers many, many churches so it is easier to obtain the certificate for births, deaths and marriages after that date directly from the General Register Office at Southport than to request a look-up, as long as you have the reference.

http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/

Information on how to access the indexes can be found here

http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,403524.msg2723827.html#msg2723827


Information which can be found on English certificates is described here

http://home.clara.net/dixons/Certificates/indexbd.htm

Details of what can be found in parish registers before civil registration commenced can be found here

http://www.british-genealogy.com/resources/registers/home.htm

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Please use the International Genealogical Index (IGI) provided by the Church of Latter Day Saints – LDS - (also known as Mormons) to search for births and marriages. Very few deaths and burials have been extracted or transcribed from the registers they have microfilmed. You may find many entries that have been submitted by members and in a lot of cases are ‘best guesses’. Please remember that this is an index, not a primary source, and all entries should be verified where possible. The index is incomplete as not all parishes are included and not all entries in the registers are included

www.familysearch.org

The LDS have many family history centres around the country and their volunteers will happily help you further your own research. You can order and use their microfilms for a small charge.

http://www.londonfhc.org/content/other-uk-centres

If you find an entry in the IGI look for the batch number at the bottom of the result screen and make a note of the film number next to it. You can use this to search their catalogue to see if this film is in stock in the UK or if it has to come from the United States.

http://www.londonfhc.org/content/catalogue

The parishes they have collections for are here

http://www.londonfhc.org/content/catalogue?c=1617&p=England,England,London

http://www.londonfhc.org/content/catalogue?c=1071&p=England,England,Middlesex


You may see references to the Hugh Wallis site, another source for finding out what is included in the IGI, batch numbers and corresponding dates can be found here (although not always completely up to date, as newer parish additions might have been made to the IGI )


http://tinyurl.com/n8fsqn


The British Vital Records Index (BVRI) is also provided by the LDS.

British Isles Vital Records Index, 2nd Edition database contains information extracted from baptism & marriage records from various counties in England and Wales. The records date from 1538 to 1906 for baptisms and 1940 for marriages. The records included in this database do not represent all localities in England and Wales and for any given area, coverage (both records within a year and total year range) may not be complete. Some parishes and counties are more complete than others

Coverage information is here

http://www.genoot.com/downloads/BVRI2/

This data is now available on subscription from www.ancestry.co.uk

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You may be lucky to find a reference for a Middlesex marriage here, details have been taken from the Phillimore Marriage Indexes published over many volumes.

http://www.angelfire.com/fl/Sumter/Middlesex.html

Volume 01
Acton 1566-1812, Heston 1559-1812, Hanwell 1570-1812, Harlington 1540-1812, and Greenford 1539-1812

Volume 02
Hillingdon 1559-1812, Hayes 1557-1812, Northolt 1575-1812, Ickenham 1558-1812, Cowley 1563-1812, and West Drayton 1568-1812

Volume 03
Hampton 1657-1812, Twickenham 1538-1812, and Teddington 1560-1837

Volume 04
New Brentford 1618-1812, Hounslow 1708-1812, Stanwell 1632-1812, Sunbury 1566-1812, Ashford 1696-1812, Feltham 1634-1812, Hanworth 1732-1837, and Pinner 1654-1837

Volume 05
Uxbridge 1538-1694, Harefield 1546-1837, Great Stanmore 1599-1837, Enfield 1550-1837

Volume 06
Edmonton 1557-1837

Volume 07
Finchley 1560-1837, South Mimms 1558-1837, and Monken Hadley 1619-1837

Volume 08
Ealing 1582-1837

Volume 09
Tottenham 1558-1837

Coverage is not complete for all parishes for the dates shown, and from personal experience, names may be mis-transcribed or simply not transcribed. Please remember to try variant spellings if you are sure an entry should be there.

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Pallot's Index to Marriages covers all but two of the 103 parishes in the old City of London. Information available includes: spouses names, marriage date (usually year only) and parish of marriage. The dates span the time from 1780 to the start of General Registration in 1837. There are more than 1.5 million marriage entries that come mainly from London and Middlesex, but also include entries from 2500 parishes in 38 counties outside of London-many not available in other sources. Also included are several records from counties in Wales.

Pallot'sBaptism Index is a collection of baptism entries from the Greater London area and once included 12 million entries, but it was mostly destroyed in the Second World War, so that only 200,000 entries remain, dated between 1780 and 1837. These parish christening and baptismal registrations (with some birth dates recorded) cover at least 22 parishes in London and Middlesex, around 27 other parishes, and there are many other miscellaneous entries. They usually give the name of the child and parentage, the parish of baptism and the date.

The card index is owned and held at the Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies, who sell copies on CD, and it is available online at Ancestry

There is also Boyd’s Marriage Index, dates covered are 1538-1840, which includes over a million names relating to London & Middlesex marriages. Boyd’s Index is available by subscription at

www.originsnetwork.com

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Use the censuses to make sure the person you are looking for gives a consistent place of birth. If they aren’t consistent, please mention all places given when making your request.

The 1841 census required the enumerator to find out if people were ‘born in the county’ marked ‘Y’, ‘not born in the county’ marked ‘N’ or whether born in Scotland – ‘S’, Ireland – ‘I’ or Foreign Parts – ‘F’. The answers given may not always be accurate.

If you have results from the 1841 census, remember that ages could be out by 5 years, due to ages for those over 15 being rounded down to the nearest 5 years. Until recent times, little emphasis has been placed on dates and places of birth and ages. Many of our ancestors just didn’t know their own details.

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Thousands of parish register entries for those with Docklands, East End and Thames Watermen & Lightermen Ancestors. ancestors can be found at

http://www.parishregister.com/searchpage.asp

You can search for free, entries can be viewed on a ‘pay-per-view’ basis or cd’s of the transcriptions can be purchased.

This data is now available on subscription from www.findmypast.com

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An extensive collection of non-conformist records have been deposited at the National Archives at Kew.

In association with another subscription site, the index and the actual images from the parish registers can be accessed here

http://www.bmdregisters.co.uk/

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There are many archives and local studies centres around the capital. Details of some of their holding can be found here.

http://www.londonlibraries.org/servlets/llil/archives

or here

http://homepages.gold.ac.uk/genuki/LND/boro-lib.htm



You may find that holdings at these centres are greater than those listed and that some are willing to do a limited amount of free research is you supply exact names, dates and parishes. If you have to pay for the research, the fees are usually quite modest.