Genealogy Chat

http://www.genesreunited.co.uk/boards.page/board/genealogy_chat/thread/917143 :-)
Online parish clerks AKA OPCs

All useful information, thank you.

I usually google for libraries within the vicinty of where my ancestors lived and if I find one which holds the parish records I will email them.

I applaud the staff of libraries...I am yet to find any unhelpful. If a record has been found...they have sent by post a copy of the records for a minimum amount usually the price of 2 first class stamps.

Linda

Kevin - not really answering your question but:
As you may know, you can purchase BMD.certs from the local rego office as well as the GRO. Some of the local indexes are online - see:
http://www.ukbmd.org.uk/local_bmd

In particular:
http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/community/bmd/certificate/Camdex/

The local index doesn't have the same info as the GRO index - here's a GRO look up:

Marriages Jun 1861 (>99%)
Cornwell Mary Ann Cambridge 3b 736
Pink William Cambridge 3b 736
Plues Mary Ann Cambridge 3b 736
Sussum William Cambridge 3b 736

The local index here gives a church code (CE025 - which they don't identify), the rego # (=3) and the entry # (=442).
Since they have the entry #, they can say who else has that same entry #. (They also code groom=1 and bride=2.)

Surname: PINK
Forename: William
Middle Initial:
Year of Marriage: 1861
Reference: 331/CE025/03/442/1
District: Cambridge (the Registration District in which the marriage took place)
Spouses Surname(s): COSRNWELL, CORNWELL

Surname: CORNWELL
Forename: Mary
Middle Initial: A
Year of Marriage: 1861
Reference: 331/CE025/03/442/2
District: Cambridge (the Registration District in which the marriage took place)
Spouses Surname(s): PINK


Here's a b look up:

Surname: PINK
Forename: Alfred
Middle Initial:
Year of Birth: 1862
Reference: 331/SAL 021/412
District: Cambridge (the Registration District in which the birth took place)

Again, they don't tell you which subdistrict the birth was rego'ed in, but it's not hard here to guess SAL=St. Andrew the Less.

If I click on the "Cambridge" link in the FreeBMD hit I posted above, then the more info "here" link, I get a history of the villages, etc in Cambridge RD, plus a list of subdistricts.

Thanks Chris :)

http://www.cfhs.org.uk/Search.html

(above for Cambridgeshire Baptisms and Burials 1801 - 1837, and other info.)

Chris :)

(also some Cambs. Parishes on Find My Past)

I've had a look at freereg, it's useful to a point. i've just bought a subscription to the seax site, it's great!!

Which sites have you been using? freereg has some transcriptions for all of those counties.

Great! Thanks for your help .

eg South east essex

http://seax.essexcc.gov.uk/

Cambridge

http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/leisure/archives

The Essex ones are not transcribed but you can get a subscription to view the original records on-line.

http://seax.essexcc.gov.uk/EssexAncestors.asp

well some churches still hold their own records otherwise you would find them in a central archive. You could google for info on archives

I'm assuming that it's the case that all parish records aren't yet transcribed ? If so where and how does one view them? Are there still copies in the original parishes or have they all been collected to a central point within each county ? I'm specifically interested in Essex, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire.