What are ...?

Parish Register Transcriptions

Parish Register Transcripts are copies of the original parish records which recorded Baptisms, Marriages and Burials long before the introduction of the civil registrations in the early 19th century; 1833 in England and Wales, 1855 in Scotland and 1864 in Ireland.

Parish registers date back to 1538 in England and Wales, 1558 in Scotland and to 1634 in Ireland. There are one or two English registers before 1538 when Thomas Cromwell, on behalf on Henry VIII, requested a weekly register of all baptisms, marriages and burials. In 1597 parchment books were provided for the purpose and it was ordered that earlier records be also transferred to parchment. A tax on births, marriages and burials was introduced in 1694 which meant that births and baptisms had to be recorded but the tax was rescinded soon after.

The EYFHS Parish Register Transcription booklets contain the full transcription, copied from the original Parish Registers, and include an index of names to aid the family historian.