The parish registers

The register of baptisms for 1771 written by the Rev Humphrey Hyde
who was Vicar of Bourne from 1763 until his death in 1807.

The only way to check on births, marriages and deaths from centuries past is by referring to the parish registers. These are now difficult to access, the majority being deposited for safe keeping with the county archives although some churches do have copies and may be consulted by appointment.

It should also be understood that names particularly may not be accurate because literacy was not universal. Parents, brides and grooms, and the relatives of the dead, were often unable to read and write, which accounts for the X or “their mark” on some certificates, while clerks, and sometimes clergy themselves were not always completely literate and so the spellings of names particularly may not be correct.

Church of England parish registers were first introduced in England and Wales by a mandate dated 5th September 1538 from Thomas Cromwell, chief minister to Henry VIII. Entries of baptisms, marriages and burials were to be recorded in each parish and written up weekly by the incumbent. Many of these early parish registers were kept on loose sheets of paper or parchment.

In 1598, Queen Elizabeth I endorsed an order instructing the clergy to keep their parish registers in parchment books and, at the same time, the clergy were ordered to copy into these new registers the entries of baptisms, marriages and burials made in earlier years, beginning in 1538 or from the start of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I in 1558. Many incumbents chose the latter date which is why so many of the earliest parish registers date from 1558, rather than 1538.

Unfortunately not all have survived. Also, from 1598, parish clergymen were instructed to send an annual copy of all baptisms, marriages and burials in their parish registers to the local bishop although in some dioceses it had been customary to send them in from much a earlier date. These regular listings are known as Bishop's Transcripts and in some dioceses there were also other parish register copies made which are called Archdeacon's Transcripts (not applicable to the Diocese of Lincoln). Bishop's Transcripts, frequently abbreviated to BTs, were usually submitted covering all the entries from one Lady Day (March 25th) to the next. This is because until 1752 each New Year actually began on Lady Day.

BTs tend to peter out around the middle of the 19th century, although in some dioceses they continued into the latter half of the 19th century and occasionally later. In Lincolnshire, there are very few BTs after the 1840s. The information on bishop's transcripts may sometimes differ from the entries made in parish registers and family historians are advised to check the entries of interest in both BTs and parish registers as either record may contain additional information or events not recorded in the other. BTs can be used as an alternative basic source if the parish registers are missing but because the BTs were submitted annually on loose paper or parchment gaps may occur where BTs themselves have been lost. BTs are usually (not always) available in the same record repository as the parish registers.

In Lincolnshire, both BTs and deposited parish registers are available in the county archives. From the earliest years, it was usual for each parish clergyman to keep baptism, marriage and burial entries in the same register, usually known as a General Register. From 1653 to 1660, during the Commonwealth Period when the country was under the control of Oliver Cromwell's Protectorate, this role of the clergy was suspended and the government appointed officials called Parish Registers (sic) to record local events often in civil registers. Many of these men were lax with their duties and few of their registers survive.

The first change to the general registers came in 1754 when, following the Hardwicke Marriage Act, separate printed marriage registers, sometimes incorporating banns books, were introduced. Couples were required to sign or mark the entry of their marriage in the register before two witnesses. The Hardwicke Act also made all other denominational marriages illegal, except those carried out by Jews and Quakers.

In some parishes separate banns books were kept apart from the marriage registers. From 1754, general registers should only contain details of baptisms and burials but in a few parishes the clergy were slow to make their marriage entries in the separate registers. George Rose's Act of 1812 introduced, from 1813, individual printed registers for entering baptisms and burials and a slightly amended form of marriage register was also introduced at the same time. The Church of England baptisms and burials registers have remained largely unchanged since 1813, but the marriage registers underwent considerable change from 1 July 1837 when Civil Registration was introduced in England and Wales. Also, from 1837, couples marrying could opt for a civil marriage in the local register office or to marry in a nonconformist church or chapel providing certain conditions were observed. Despite this relaxation, numbers of nonconformist couples continued to marry in a Church of England church until 1899 when, for the first time, Authorised Persons in licensed nonconformist churches or chapels were allowed to keep their own marriage registers.

The parish registers are currently being transcribed into digital format by David Tabor, former church official, who began the task in 2011. Progress is slow because the documents are hard to read and often illegible and a painstaking attention to detail is required. But by March 2012, the work was well advanced with three of the baptism registers completed comprising some 2,400 entries from 1837-1899. "This has taken me three months", said David, "and I anticipate that at least another 18 months of work lies ahead."

The project is being undertaken with the approval of the vicar and churchwardens who are the local custodians of the registers which are kept under lock and key in the Abbey Church where David has been an active worker for more than half a century. His first appointment was as a boy in 1950 when he joined the team of altar servers but in 1963 he was elected to the parochial church council, becoming secretary the following year. There have been many appointments since, at parochial and diocesan level, including verger, parish clerk and churchwarden, a post which he eventually gave up in 2002.

David lost his wife, Ann, in 2011. They had been married for almost fifty years. Their daughter, Judith, an enthusiastic member of the Lincolnshire Family History Society who has researched the Tabor family back to the 18th century, suggested the transcription of the registers as a suitable project and he has tackled it with enthusiasm. Once complete, it is hoped that the registers will be available on the Internet through the Lincolnshire Family History web site.

REVISED MARCH 2012

NOTE: I am indebted to an article by Tom Wood on parish registers published by the
Lincolnshire Family History Society’s magazine in 1994 (Volume 5 Number 4)
for information used while writing this item

See also David Tabor