Genealogy Chat

My mum recently visited the village where her mother's family were from. We had had difficulty finding her mothers marriage. On the off chance she went into the church and asked to see the register. She said there were very few entries at all and found her parents marriage within 5 minutes back in 1936, so bear in mind the quieter the parish the longer it must take to fill a register to cause it to be handed over.

County records offices usually want you to look at the registers on microfilm/fiche but you can see the originals if that is the only access to information. nell

Aran Aran In 1975 an Act of Parliament was passed which legislated the Safekeeping of Parish Registers. What it boils down to, a Church may only keep anything older than the current register, if it complies with various complicated measures for the storage of registers - i.e. in a secure, atmospherically controlled environment. As most Churches are damp and draughty and have mice!, most Vicars willingly hand over their old registers for proper storage and very few are actually available at a Church. You are probably likely to find anything but the most modern, in the County Records Office. Some have been photographed or transcribed by the LDS and that is where I get mine, because I am miles away from the County I am researching. Marjorie

Thanks again Guinevere.

That depends! Records over 100 years old are supposed to be in the county record office. Some registers are still with the churches. Some allow you to view them by appointment and charge by the hour. Others will search the record for you for a charge. A very few let you look at them for nothing but only by appointment. Gwynne

Thanks Guinevere. Do they allow people to look at them?

Hi, They still kept them and still do. Gwynne

I realise this is a very broad question, but: What records of baptisms/marriages/burials do churches tend to keep after 1837 – when the official registration of births, death and marriages began? Indeed, do they keep any? Sorry if a dumb question. Thanks.