Parish Records - An Introduction

What are Parish Records?

Parish Records are records of baptisms, marriages, and burials made by the Church. They are a valuable resource for researching your family tree because the census and official records of birth, marriage and death do not go back further than 1837. Parish records can extend your research back to the time of King Henry VIII. Most parish registers go back to the 1600s, and some even go back to the 1500s.

Phillimore Parish Records is a series of books published in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and hold transcriptions of marriage registers. Learn more about W.P. Phillimore on the information page.

To know which records to search for, you will need to know where your ancestor lived, and the church they went to - Parishes correspond quite closely to villages of the same name. Whereas a rural parish may include a small village and two or three hamlets, there will be many parishes in the city, so you would need to determine in which your family lived.

A Short History of Parish Records

In 1538 Thomas Cromwell the Vicar General to King Henry VIII declared that all marriages, christenings and burials should be recorded; normally these are kept at the Parish Church. In 1598 an Act was passed that meant these records should be copied and sent to the bishop. These copies are known as the Bishop's Transcripts.

The Phillimore transcripts of parish records go back as far as 1538 for some. W.P. Phillimore was a genealogist who started the job of publishing transcripts of early parish records in the 1890's. These normally end in 1812 or 1837. For the range of years covered you will need to look at the details for the county you're researching. Most of the Phillimore transcripts are of marriages and the complete collection is available from S&N Genealogy

What can a Record tell me - what Information does it hold?

Baptism Records: You may only find the name. You may also find that on some records, the father's name and the mother's name has also been recorded. It is extremely unlikely that you will find a mother's maiden name on a baptism records, as this is very rare.

Marriage Records: These contain the name of the bride and groom, the Parish where they were married and sometimes details of the brides parish. The level of detail changes depending on the year.

Burial Records: You should be able to find the name and, especially for children, the father's name. They also may note the age of the deceased.