In the past few months I have transcribed thousands of entries from parish registers, and I want to use this blog to tell you about my views on the use of transcribed parish registers.
What are parish registers?
Parish registers were primarily used to record baptisms, marriages and burials of our ancestors, and are particularly useful for research that pre-dates the 1837 Registration Act, which introduced a national civil registration of births, marriages and deaths in England and Wales.
Baptism records usually list the baptism date, the first name and surname, and often the names of one or both parents. Some records will also tell you where the family lived, and some will specify whether the person baptised was a son, daughter, or an adult. Some families baptised several children at the same time, with ages listed.
Marriage records list the first names and surnames of both parties. Some records provide details of where the couple lived, and often ‘otp’ (of this parish), the name of a hamlet or a named parish for one of the couple were listed. Some records contain ages or occupation details, some specify whether the male was senior or junior, and some specify whether the marriage was by banns or licence.
Burial records usually list the first name and surname and where the person lived. For females, often they were listed as ‘wife of…’, and the husband’s name was provided. Some were listed as widows, some as paupers, or from alms houses, some records also provide occupation details or the age at burial.
The usefulness of parish registers
Parish registers provide useful information for research, but how do we access this information? Many parish registers have been transcribed, and the transcriptions are then made available on the main genealogical websites that we all use.
The registers are helpful, as they can take research back to 1538, when the recording of baptisms, marriages and burials in parish registers was made mandatory in England and Wales.
The extra details recorded in the registers can pinpoint certain ancestors, particularly where differences have been recorded, such as ‘John Smith junior’, ‘John Smith weaver’ or ‘John Smith from…’ where the entry helps to identify a particular person.
Searches online are determined by the information we enter in the search terms, and the results are determined by what the transcriber has entered – how they have read and understood the record then determines what records are displayed when we enter our search terms.
Deep-diving into parish registers
How many of us have tried to find a record, and we know it should be there, but online searches for names on the main genealogical websites have been unsuccessful? As a transcriber, I can see where the pitfalls are when relying on online records and search terms.
When transcribing a register, I start with the earliest entries and work through the register from beginning to end. The information I transcribe is limited, and I record the following:
- Year
- Type of entry (baptism, marriage, burial)
- Forename
- Surname
- Page number
Other details are not recorded, as they are not searchable on the main genealogical websites. The information is therefore lost, but it is information that the scribe felt was important at the time. One record I transcribed recently specified that a man was aged 116 when he was buried. It was clearly written next to the name, and was the only age recorded in over 2000 entries I transcribed from that parish. The age may not be correct, but if a researcher is looking for someone born 116 years previous, they are unlikely to search for a burial 116 years later.
Other details not recorded in transcription include descriptions of people buried in the church who were not from the parish, and I have seen entries for people described as strangers, vagrants, or travellers. Often the register will detail how someone died, where they were found, or what they were doing, such as ‘a man travelling through to Wales’ or ‘found in a ditch’, which gives you good background information, particularly if you find an ancestor buried in an unexpected parish.
If you are searching online, you might dismiss a record because you think it’s a burial too far from the home parish. It’s always worth looking at the record anyway – what if your ancestor was travelling through a parish when they died? The register may just indicate why the ancestor was buried in that parish.
****
When transcribing a register, I can see how a record may be missed or mis-transcribed. During transcription, I learn how to interpret the scribe’s writing – by the time I have transcribed 6-7 pages I can see how they write individual letters, and how names are formed. Comparison of writing across pages is really helpful when I come across a name that I can’t immediately read. I will look at the initial letter, and then search for the same initial letter across the pages. If I can’t read lower case letters, I will do the same – the more I transcribe, the clearer the writing style becomes.
Some entries are missed during transcription – I have seen entries online where a forename is recorded, but the surname has been omitted, or an entry has been completely omitted. Sometimes entries are written into registers at a later date – they may be squeezed in between entries, or may appear at the side of the page, and these entries are often missed in transcribed records.
I have found that some records have been completely mis-transcribed online. The more you transcribe, the more you learn how letters and words are formed, and when you compare an original document with a transcription, you can see where errors have been made. Transcription work can be challenging, and often I have difficulty figuring out what was written. I will put a ‘?’ in the database, and revisit the ‘?’ entries at the end. By the time I revisit the queried entries, I can usually figure out the word or letter.
Name variants and naming patterns are also evident in parish registers, and transcriptions should provide an exact copy of how a name was originally written. Most genealogical websites will allow name variant searches, however some variants may be missed. If, for example, you are researching the name Franklin, variants could include: Frankelin, Francklin, Franklyn, Franklynn, Francklynn, and others. It is unlikely that a website will pick up all variants in a search, and so you might conclude that someone is not in a register, based purely on that online search.
Transcription versus original records
A quick online search for someone in a parish register may provide you with some useful records, however, the online record is a transcriber’s interpretation of an original record. The information may be accurate or flawed, depending on how the record has been transcribed and how the transcriber has read and typed the letters within each word.
If you think an ancestor should appear in a register, but you can’t find them in an online search, then consider doing a trawl through the original records. This doesn’t have to involve visiting a record office – many parish registers are fully readable online, and you can browse through the pages of the registers.
As mentioned earlier, records are missed in transcription, and some are mis-transcribed. Registers will provide more information than you can find through an online search – as a transcriber, it feels counter-intuitive to ignore the extra information that is not deemed necessary for online research. I would like to know whether an ancestor was a twin, a pauper, a widow or lived to the age of 116, and the only way to find this information is to look at the original records.
Transcribing – give it a go!
Many family history societies or groups hold records in need of transcription, so that they can be uploaded onto genealogical websites. If you are searching for a parish register but can’t find it online, it may be that the records are waiting for transcription.
If you can spare some time, then why not offer to transcribe a register? If you contact your local family history society, they will let you know whether they need help. Not only will your palaeography skills improve but you will also add to the online availability of historical records. If you do offer to help – please remember that the most important thing is to transcribe accurately, and to query anything you can’t figure out. It’s a win-win, as your skills improve while providing records for others to use in the future. Give it a go!
