The Records

The Civil Registration of records commenced in England and Wales in 1837. Before 1837 research relies on Parish records although some of these are available online or on disk the majority are not and require visits to the records offices in the area/location of research.

In 1538 Thomas Cromwell, Vicar General of King Henry VIII ordered that every parish must keep a register of all baptisms, marriages and burials. Failure to comply imposed a fine which was to be spent on the upkeep of the church. The order was received with much suspicion as people believed it was the precursor to some new tax regime. Many parishes ignored the dictate.

The order was repeated in 1547 during the reign of Edward VI but this time the fine was to go towards poor relief. In 1557 the clergy were instructed to record the name of Godfather and Godmother.

In 1563 parliament passed an act which carried more weight. Records were to be kept in good quality books and copies or Bishops Transcripts of any new entries were to be sent each month to the diocesan centre. Previous entries in registers were to be copied into the new books. The 1563 act stated that the costs involved were to be met by imposing charges for entries. This did not go down very well with many clergy and the act was not really enforced. It was not until the ecclesiastical mandates of 1597 and 1603 that the act was really enforced throughout the country.

There are many other records Military Records, Coast Guard and Naval Records, Guilds, Merchant Shipping , passage and immigration record to name just a few most are available to the public but not all are online or available on CD and need considerable research.

Ironmongers bill, Old London Statistics and WW1 Battle Orders

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