Parish Register coverage

[TheSeafarer]

I can't see if this has been asked before - but there are various sites both free and paid which offer access to Parish Registers. Has there been any comparison done on which has the best coverage, or is it a case of having to check through each one? I'm asking as I've seen a few results which appear on one site but not another, and want to make sure if I am paying for something that I am paying for one which is likely to give the most coverage!

[KGarrad]

Free sites would include FreeReg and FamilySearch.
All the various sites have different areas of coverage.

Then there are various OPC sites (e.g. Cornwall-OPC-Database)

What areas are you looking for?

[TheSeafarer]

Thanks - its the different areas of coverage I'm asking about - if there is any gap analysis for example as to which sites have better coverage of years/parishes for example.

I'm looking at Surrey/Middlesex, and was trying to see what gaps different sites had in their records, but before I went too far, thought someone else may have done it and didn't want to re-invent the wheel!

[KGarrad]

London Metropolitan Archives might be a good bet?

The only way to be sure which site is best for your research is to check each site

[TheSeafarer]

Thanks - will do that!

[phil57]

If you are looking for digitised copies of the parish registers, you will find the records for different counties hosted on different sites, such as FindMyPast and Ancestry. Some are on the individual county or records office websites only, e.g. Kent Cityark and Essex Records Office.

Check FindMyPast and Ancestry for the records you are looking for. On Ancestry, select the Card Catalogue and search by county keyword to narrow down the search. On FindMyPast, select All Record Sets, use the county as a search term and look for Parish Records Browse. You will find for example, that Ancestry has images of the parish registers for Somerset, whereas FindMyPast only has transcripts. The reverse is true for Lincolnshire, etc.

So it's a matter of finding where the information you are interested in is hosted. If you are unlucky, like me, you may find you need several site subscriptions including the above two and others, e.g. Essex Archives, to cover your family research.

[bearkat]

Take a look at familysearch wiki

https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/England_Genealogy

Type the parish you are looking for in the box -top right.

Then scroll down until you get a chart listing baptisms, marriages and burials for the free and paid for sites. I expect it isn't always up to date but it's a good starting point.