Genealogy Chat

Last night was the first time I had looked at any Parish Records, in this case it was the Baptismal Records from 1864 to the present. It would be too much to hope that all records are kept so meticulously. On a large number of the records it not only gave the baptismal date but also the date of birth. There were also notations such as the age of the person being batised, if they were not a baby. There were also notes such as on relatives of mine that had a child before they were married. The married information crossed out and this information added. So for those of you who have never looked at Parish Records there is much to glean. Besides the normal information of parents, residence (place only), occupation and vicar/rector officiating. Gary p.s. Apologies to the old hands who have already discovered this type of information!

Gary how do you go about looking at these records if you dont know what parish they were in Christine

Hi Was this online or on foot. If online what site was it?. Could be just what I need. Tricia

Gary, These records are fascinating. I was researching some deaths recently and found one, un-named - pulled from the River Trent. Another death had the note that the man had fallen from the church steeple, marked in the corner of the page! The sad ones are the births with large letters 'illegitimate' in the father's name space. Elisabeth

Gary you have discovered one of the joys of research - hope you have hours more enjoyment and find lots of ancestors along the way. Beryl Darlington DUR

Hi Gary, Were these your local records or did you get them via a web site? Laurie

Christine If you know where a person was born from the census you need to find out what churches were in that area. There are various websites that can give you church information. If you want to give me some information I will try a get a list for you. In my case my family is CofE so I knew it would be that church. If you do not know the "branch" of the religion then it is trial and error I am afraid. But I would always go in the order of CofE, Methodist, Catholic, Baptist etc. Patricia/Laurie Sorry, it is on foot or in my case car, not online. This was my first venture away from the computer but it was very rewarding reviewing real books of history. I felt that this was my own research and not someone elses. Because it is time consuming you have to plan these visits. Find out where the records are kept and arrange access. Gary

The church records are great until you discover the family were Presbyterian, offshoot of the Church of Wales and only used the Church of England to get married. Anyone out there have any experience of catching up with these, maybe anyone doing Welsh ancestors. The church was called the Forward Movement, active about 100 years ago. Can't find any records for baptism of children.

Gary, Just a snippet to add on to your thread. For almost 100 years (175? - 1837) Everyone HAD to be married and buried in the local Parish Church (Except Quakers and Jews). So regardless of religious persuasion, if you are searching 18th/19th century ancestors your tip about Parish registers is spot on. This applied to England and Wales and (I think) Scotland. After 1837 registrars came into being and that is the place to start with later dating.

John: You still need the parish registers unless you are willing to apply for certificates from central records on the offchance they are your family, a rather expensive procedure. I think you really need the cross reference before you send for certificates.

Hi Gary The person im looking for was born either Oswaldtwistle or Rishton, Lancashire abt 1801, but not got a clue what parish hes in! Christine