Who Do You Think You Are? Encyclopedia of Genealogy (20 page)

Created by the Church of the Latter Day Saints (Mormons) the International Genealogical Index (IGI) remains the most extensive collection of British parish register transcripts, with over 70 million entries listed. The IGI predominantly covers baptisms for the British
Isles from the sixteenth century to about 1885, though later entries are included. It also contains some marriage records but by no means as many, and very few burials. Coverage is not complete, and some parishes are excluded altogether. The means of access is usually via microfiche at county record offices, but the IGI is now available online via www.familysearch.org, described below.

When searching the IGI, always bear in mind that you are working from someone's transcriptions, and that errors can occur. You should always use the IGI as a short cut to locate a record, and then go back to the original parish register to check for accuracy, as well as scan for related entries. Similarly, if you can't find an entry in the IGI it is worth checking to see if the parish you need is actually covered in a publication such as the
Philimore Atlas and Index of Parish Registers
.

Linked to the IGI (and also prepared by the Mormons) is the British Vital Records Index, a CD ROM which contains millions of transcriptions from British parish registers. Many record offices, libraries and family history societies have bought copies and make them available in their search rooms. As with the IGI, you should always try to verify the transcription from the original, where possible.

Boyd's Marriage Index is an attempt to cross-reference the names of the bride and groom contained in marriage records in each county, from the introduction of parish registers in 1538 to the introduction of civil registration in 1837. It was compiled by Percival Boyd and his team from parish registers, Bishops' Transcripts and licences, and covers all English counties – though none are complete. Over 7 million transcriptions are covered in the index, and the area with the best coverage is East Anglia, which is particularly useful since this region is poorly served by the IGI. Most county archives provide access to printed editions of the index, but you can access more extensive collections at the Society of Genealogists in London. It is also available at www.origins.net (see below).

If you are looking for a marriage or baptism in the City of London between
c
. 1780 and 1837 you should consult Pallot's Marriage and Baptism Index, which covers all but two of the 103 parishes covered by the City's historic jurisdiction. There are, for example, over 1.5 million
marriages listed, and if you find an entry that matches your search, you are likely to find the name of the spouse, date of marriage, and parish where the wedding took place. Although the index started out focusing on London, there are entries from Middlesex and other parishes. The index can now be searched on www.ancestry.co.uk.

When searching for the burial place of your ancestor, the National Burial Index may be helpful. The Federation of Family History Societies is running a project to index all burials in England and Wales. The project was begun in 1994 and it aims to cover burials from Anglican parishes, non-conformist and cemetery burial registers from 1538 to almost the present day. It is a vast project and the FFHS is releasing its index in stages. The second edition (published in 2004) is available and contains over 13 million burial records, though it is not yet complete. Most local family history societies and archives should have access to the Index in CD format. It should be noted that it is an index of burials only; memorial inscriptions are not included.

As many parish records are scattered through various archives and libraries throughout Britain and Ireland, it is worthwhile checking whether the information may be online; there are a number of websites that have transcribed parish registers and made them available online. Below is a list of the largest websites.

As mentioned above, Family Search is run by the Latter Day Saints and is crucial for anyone conducting research into parish registers. It incorporates several key datasets:

•
 
Ancestral File

•
 
Pedigree Resource File

•
 
The International Genealogical Index

•
 
British 1881 census

There are also other sources that are probably not relevant to most researchers in this country, such as US census returns.

Ancestral files and pedigree resource files are voluntary submissions by other users and members of LDS, and are based on private research and material stored at the LDS library in Salt Lake City. As with any non-verified material placed online, you need to exercise caution before incorporating it into your family tree. Where possible, try to contact the submitter and ask where their sources were drawn from, and then go back to those sources and check them. Further advice about the way material is submitted, and the datasets themselves, can be found on the website. It is free to use.

This is another very useful website for people needing to search parish registers. It is run by the Federation of Family History Societies, the umbrella organization for individual family history societies throughout the country; the Federation currently has over 210 member societies. Many of these family history societies have transcripts of their local parish registers and the Federation is placing these transcripts on this website, making a searchable database for many different parishes in England and Wales. Searches are available for various parishes in every county of England and Wales right up to the twentieth century and new additions are being placed onto the website continuously. Currently there are over 67 million records, including certain datasets for Australia. Databases are available for the whole range of parish registers – baptisms, marriages and burials – as well as associated material such as marriage licences, monumental inscriptions and even census records. The website has a section listing what exactly is available per county and a section on new additions to the website.

It is possible to search the website free of charge after registering, but to view the results will require payment. Always remember, however, that as these are transcriptions it is always best to double-check the information with the original parish register, wherever possible.

‘
Online databases are available for the whole range of parish registers
.'

This website contains useful databases containing material drawn from parish registers. The section for British origins is probably the most useful as you can search the following:

•
 
Boyd's Marriage Index:
As described above, over 7 million marriages from every English county are searchable here.

•
 
Vicar General Index to Marriage Licence Allegations, 1694
–
1850:
This is a composite index to marriage allegations issued by the Vicar General (the Archbishop of Canterbury). The index is listed by surname only of both parties and identifying the correct record can prove difficult on occasions.

•
 
Faculty Office Index to Marriage Licence Allegations, 1701
–
1850:
The Faculty Office was another department of Lambeth Palace that issued marriage licences. This index is more detailed, giving forenames and surnames of both parties.

•
 
London burial index, 1538
–
1872:
This index has been compiled from two sources. First, Boyd's London Burials, an index containing over 240,000 entries, although not including every burial occurring in London and concentrating on male entries. The second source used was London City Burials, compiled by Cliff Webb and containing over 35,000 such entries. The latter source is usually the more detailed, covering both sexes and mostly giving the age at burial.

The expansion of the British Empire from the eighteenth century onwards meant that there were pockets of British populations scattered throughout the world. Some of these communities would have their births or baptisms, marriages and deaths or burials recorded in the same fashion as their relatives back home by overseas chaplaincies. These events were recorded in the same way and can be found in a variety of sets of records. Of course, they may also be available online through the IGI and it always worthwhile checking this on the website www.familysearch.org (see above).

In 1633 the Bishop of London was appointed as being responsible for Anglican chaplaincies abroad where no local priest had been appointed. Such chaplaincies grew in large numbers in Europe in the seventeenth century, overseen by the Bishop of London. After 1842 the area was spilt into two – Northern and Southern Europe. Northern Europe was still under the remit of the Bishop of London (or the Bishop of Fulham after 1883) and Southern Europe came under the Diocese of Gibraltar.

These Anglican chaplaincies abroad would maintain their own registers and would usually deposit these registers with the Bishop of London, although in an irregular fashion. The Bishop of London
maintained registers for these miscellaneous foreign events, and volumes survive from 1816 to 1924, known as the ‘International Memoranda'. Indexes to these Memoranda have also been compiled.

The registers themselves can be found at a variety of places. They may be at the Guildhall Library in London or with the Bishop of London's Archives, now part of the collection at the Lambeth Palace Library. The best place to try and locate where records for the country of concern may be is to refer to the book
The British Overseas: a guide to records of their births, baptisms, marriages, deaths and burials available in the United Kingdom
(3rd edition, 1994) published by Guildhall Library. This is a comprehensive country-by-country guide to what records are available for each country and where they may be found. Records of non-statutory registers, many of which relate to births overseas and on board ships, can be found in the collected archives of the Registrar General at The National Archives in series RG 32–36.

Please note, however, that unless indicated otherwise by
The British Overseas
, the majority of registers for Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United States and the West Indies will still be held in these countries. The records for these territories will be discussed in more detail in
Chapter 22
. The only large ex-colonial collection of parish registers found in the UK is that for the Indian subcontinent. Parish registers for British communities based there from 1698 to 1968 can be found at the Asia, Africa and Pacific collections at the British Library.

British Embassies located throughout the world also maintained registers for births, marriages and deaths for the country the embassy was located in. However, these embassy registers are incomplete as not every resident of British origin would be registered. These registers can now be found at The National Archives within the appropriate country's records held in the Foreign Office series.
The British Overseas
will indicate what registers survive for what date, along with the relevant reference code. See ‘Civil Registration of Britons Overseas' in
Chapter 5
.

Despite the proliferation of material online, which will only increase over the coming years, it still might be difficult to track down a precise
place of burial, baptism date or record of a marriage. Here are a couple of additional places you might consider looking for information.

•
 
Newspapers:
Sometimes the quickest method of finding where your ancestor may have been baptized, married or buried is to scan through local or national newspapers. Many national newspapers recorded these events, although they tend to include the more notable members of society.
The Times
has digitized its entire newspaper archive from 1785 to 1985 and it can be searched online at many libraries. As it is fully indexed you should be able to search for your ancestor simply by typing his or her name.
    Local newspapers can also give useful information, especially for humbler members of society. Local newspapers began to be published from the early nineteenth century onwards and should be found at the relevant local record office. Most newspapers would have a section for births, marriages and deaths. They can be useful for giving extra information about next-of-kin or stating where the event happened, if not at the local parish church (for example if your ancestor died abroad). Sometimes an obituary may give a full picture of someone's life within the community and information about his immediate family. Obituaries may also be published in newspapers separate from death notices and should also be searched for.

•
 
Sources in old family papers:
Through the course of your ancestors' lives, documents and papers would be issued to inform others of life events such as births, marriages and deaths. It is always worthwhile searching through your family's private papers to find such documents as they may assist in indicating where to locate the appropriate parish record. Examples of such sources are wedding invitations, funeral cards or old photographs. They would obviously detail where your ancestor was married or buried, and wedding cards in particular would give details of the bride or groom's parents. Old photographs may also have the parish church included in the shot.
    If your ancestors were particularly good correspondents, or had relatives who lived overseas, you may well find key family events mentioned on a regular basis. Sending a Christmas circular letter updating friends and family seems a fairly modern innovation, but in the days before telephone, email or fax, writing a letter was the only way to communicate and it's worth looking for collections of letters in the hope of shedding light on some of these important family events.