Birth, Marriage and Death Records: A Guide for Family Historians

by David Annal

Overview

Birth, marriage and death records are an essential resource for family historians, and this handbook is an authoritative introduction to them. It explains the original motives for registering these milestones in individual lives, describes how these record-keeping systems evolved, and shows how they can be explored and interpreted. Authors David Annal and Audrey Collins guide researchers through the difficulties they may encounter in understanding the documentation. They recount the history of parish registers from their origin in Tudor times, they look at how civil registration was organized in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and explain how the system in England and Wales differs from those in Scotland and Ireland. The record-keeping practiced by nonconformist and foreign churches, in communities overseas and in the military is also explained, as are the systems of the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. Other useful sources of evidence for births, marriages and deaths are explored and, of course, the authors assess the online sites that researchers can turn to for help in this crucial area of family history research.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781783461363
Publisher:	Pen & Sword Books Limited
Publication date:	12/19/2012
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	224
File size:	18 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

David Annal has been actively involved in family history research for over thirty years. He was employed by The National Archives for ten years and has worked as a professional researcher since 1984. He is the author of a number of best-selling family history books and is well known as a columnist and a speaker. Audrey Collins works as a family history specialist at The National Archives, and has researched extensively into the history of the General Register Office of England and Wales. She has a degree in history and politics from the University of Warwick, and was a freelance researcher, speaker, teacher and writer on family history before joining The National Archives in 2002.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Chapter 1 Parish Registers, Part 1: 'Every Weddyng Christenyng and Buryeng' 5

Chapter 2 Parish Registers, Part 2: 'A True and Just Account ... of All Sorts of Persons within the Commonwealth' 15

Chapter 3 Parish Registers, Part 3: 'The Imperfect Method ... Generally Pursued' 29

Chapter 4 Civil Registration, Part 1: 'A Complete Register of the Births, Deaths and Marriages of His Majesty's Subjects in England' 41

Chapter 5 Civil Registration, Part 2: 'It is Expedient to Amend the Acts Relating to the Registration of Births and Deaths in England' 51

Chapter 6 Civil Registration, Part 3: 'Indexes of the Registers to be Made and Kept in the General Register Office' 67

Chapter 7 Nonconformist Registers: 'That All Registers and Records Deposited in the General Register Office by Virtue of this Act Shall be Receivable in Evidence in all Courts of Justice' 75

Quakers 80

Presbyterians, Congregationalists and Baptists 81

Methodists 82

Other Protestant Denominations 83

Roman Catholics 83

Non-parochial Registers 85

Other Registers 85

Chapter 8 Overseas and at Sea: 'Any Child of an English Parent Born at Sea on Board of a British Vessel' 87

Chapter 9 Military Sources: 'The Registration of Deaths, Births and Marriages Among Officers and Soldiers of Her Majesty's Land Forces' 95

Chapter 10 Scotland: 'A Complete and Uniform System of Registration of Births, Deaths, and Marriages Should be Established and Maintained in Scotland' 103

Chapter 11 Ireland: 'A Complete System of Registration of Births and Deaths Should be Established in Ireland' 113

Chapter 12 The Channel Islands and the Isle of Man 121

Channel Islands 121

The Isle of Man 123

Chapter 13 Divorce: 'Every Person Seeking a Decree of Nullity of Marriage, or a Decree of Judicial Separation, or a Dissolution of Marriage' 127

Chapter 14 Adoption: 'The Registrar-General Shall Establish and Maintain a Register to be Called the Adopted Children Register' 135

England and Wales 135

Scotland 138

Northern Ireland 138

Republic of Ireland 139

Chapter 15 Unexpected Sources 141

Chapter 16 Accessing the Records 151

Civil Registration 152

Online Access 153

Parish Registers 155

Nonconformist and Other Registers 162

Roman Catholic Records 163

Jewish Records 164

Appendix: The Legislation 165

Bibliography 177

Index 179