English Parish Records Index

[Vance Mead]

This is from the paragraph explaining extracted records:

The church has extracted records from various registers to produce indices to those registers, and used to process these indices through the temples and onto the I.G.I. as a result. The policy here was to only index registers for which no entry was dated later than 31st December 1865, although this wasn't always strictly followed. As a result, entries from this source (which currently account for about 83% of the entries in the I.G.I.) primarily relate to events occurring on or before this date.

[CarolA3]

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

Good news, times have changed

Virtually all surviving Oxfordshire parish records, complete with images, are now available on Ancestry.  The Henley churches of St Mary and Holy Trinity are both included.  The originals are at the Oxfordshire History Centre (the former St Luke's Church) in Cowley, Oxford.

Carol

[JohninSussex]

Welcome to the original questioner, and hopefully you will find your way back to to read the answers to your question, and/or be able to clarify what in particular you're seeking.

With regard to the spat between Vancemead, Guy and Stan, about the "IGI", what it is and how "accurate" it is, not very helpful chaps.  It could well be that in 1976 the Mormons regarded the IGI as "an index of LDS ordinances".  The link given by Stan 

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

is ten years old and perhaps described the state of the IGI then.  It included transcriptions of parish registers, probably initially done by volunteers, inaccurate and incomplete, but was useful at a time when few other resources were available without visiting the localities concerned.

Effectively the IGI no longer exists - but some Rootschatters use that just as a name for the Mormons' FamilySearch website.   FamilySearch does not seem to use that name any longer, or at least it is not the name they give to the main data found at the site.   It offers "Collections" with names like "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975" with information sometimes derived from the same filmed parish registers that contributed to the earlier IGI, and FindMyPast uses some of the same transcriptions.  And FamilySearch does not charge for lookups.

A resource for finding parish registers from around the country is Dusty Docs found here
http://dustydocs.com.au/county/5/cheshire.html?country_id=1
(the link is to Cheshire, just change the county from the top drop-down box).  It may not be completely accurate but I found it a great help when starting out.
 

[ribower]

Thanks to all who have replied. I'm sorry for igniting the IGI Wars

BTW, I was referring to Church of England parishes, but non-conforming would also be useful, of course.

But to summarize let's see if I have this right:

1. Some records are index searchable, but not all.
2. The indexes are found across a hodgepodge of Web sites.

IMHO this is OUTRAGEOUS! 

So are there any efforts afoot to 1) complete indexing of unindexed records and 2) create a one stop shopping general index? Just think how wonderful that would be. Does anyone even know what or how much remains unindexed? Is there even a comprehensive list of index sites? Are churches opposed to getting this done?

I confess to a huge amount of ignorance on this subject, as is probably apparent.

Thanks again for the help.

[maddys52]

As noted earlier, FreeReg is attempting to do just that
https://www.freereg.org.uk/cms/about

You can see how much of each of the parish records have been transcribed here:
https://www.freereg.org.uk/freereg_contents/new

It is a great project (along with FreeCen and FreeBMD), and to help it along further you could always volunteer to help with the transcriptions, something I have been meaning to do for a long time and your post has spurred me on to sign up now!

[dawnsh]

To get a better handle of the situation, try to look at a copy of Phillimore's Atlas & Guide to Parish registers, many reference libraries have a copy, it is expensive to buy

https://genealogysupplies.com/product/Books-on-Genealogy/The-Phillimore-Atlas-and-Index-of-Parish-Registers/

(many other suppliers are available)

The maps (not the index or depositories) can be found with a sub at Ancestry, look for Great Britain, Atlas and Index of Parish register

[Blue70]

I don't like the idea of central indexing or the centralising of archives. It's probably too late anyway for such an aid to research to be set up. I can't see a church or government body taking on the work that is now generally done by private organisations. I think it's better to have a variety of resources available from various providers. I would hate it if one site had a monopoly on all genealogical records. It's not difficult for researchers to learn what sites are available and what they provide. I like searching on various sites it can be useful in identifying transcription errors.


Blue

[Guy Etchells]

Thanks to all who have replied. I'm sorry for igniting the IGI Wars

BTW, I was referring to Church of England parishes, but non-conforming would also be useful, of course.

But to summarize let's see if I have this right:

1. Some records are index searchable, but not all.
2. The indexes are found across a hodgepodge of Web sites.

IMHO this is OUTRAGEOUS! 

So are there any efforts afoot to 1) complete indexing of unindexed records and 2) create a one stop shopping general index? Just think how wonderful that would be. Does anyone even know what or how much remains unindexed? Is there even a comprehensive list of index sites? Are churches opposed to getting this done?

I confess to a huge amount of ignorance on this subject, as is probably apparent.

Thanks again for the help.

No wars it is just that some people take the view that accuracy is very important and unless one understands the reason for the existence of a database one cannot decide whether it will suit the purpose required.

I do not understand why you think it outrageous that -
"1. Some records are index searchable, but not all.
2. The indexes are found across a hodgepodge of Web sites."

It costs a lot of time and money to compile and index such records, who do you expect to invest that time and money?
Many individuals and groups have invested time and money compiling records they have access to which is why they appear on a "hodgepodge of Web sites", I for one am thankful they have made the effort.

I assume you are "new" to family history and do not realise that until the surge in family history societies (FHS) in the mid 1970s there were very few easily accessible transcripts and indexes of records available.
Transcripts of parish registers were available for a number of parishes before that date but they were published in limited runs 50 to 150 copies was the usual range of print runs and these were often difficult to locate.

People do not seem to realise that family history records have never been so easy to access and as cheap as they are today thanks to the efforts of individuals, FHS, and companies.

Cheers
Guy

[iluleah]

Thanks to all who have replied. I'm sorry for igniting the IGI Wars

But to summarize let's see if I have this right:

1. Some records are index searchable, but not all.
2. The indexes are found across a hodgepodge of Web sites.

IMHO this is OUTRAGEOUS! 

I confess to a huge amount of ignorance on this subject, as is probably apparent.

Thanks again for the help.

You are new and I have to say a 'post internet researcher who assumes everything should be online 'fact' and in one place, which is totally unreaslistic and very short sighted.

How many years have you donated in transcribing records to help other people? None!
MANY people have donated their time and effort over years, including many people who have answered your question. They did it for other people to make it easier for them to search as prior to that the IGI was the only major transcription which was collected, donated information and parish records, unchecked but a CLUE about where to look for the real record and that is all indexes and transcriptions are now, a clue. They sat in records offices to research and researched real records taking hours, days, months or years to find ONE record and  if their ancestors moved about, so did they onto the records office in that area and  put pen to paper and wrote to other records offices too far to travel to,  it is easy now which is why I say your are unrealistic.
Many who spent those years doing transcribing for free found that many of those " hodgepodge of Web sites" then sold off their content to the likes of commercial websites and closed down which is not why people donated their time and effort for creating a couple of commerical monopolies which limits access unless you pay.