Parish registers This huge resource of pre-1837 records is invaluable for family historians
The mid-19th century saw the introduction of record-keeping that would prove to be a massive boon for future family history enthusiasts. In 1837, civil registration for England and Wales – with official birth, marriage and death certificates – began, while the first modern decennial census was taken in 1841. These were official records administered by the government.
Before that date, you have to look more locally – to the parish church – to find your relatives in official documentation. ‘Parish records’ is an umbrella term for the vast array of life documents and lists produced by the parish church, which was the administrative centre of the community. These detailed everything from taxes collected to aid the poor, to school records and licenses to shoot game.
The main meat for researchers are the registers of baptisms, marriages and burials that took place in the church, and these form the framework of our ancestors’ lives before 1837. Though some of the earlier ones may not have survived and the handwriting can prove hard to decipher, these documents are priceless research tools for discovering previously unknown ancestors, learning more about their lives and taking your family history research back further generations. As well as registers for London, Ancestry.co.uk holds millions of parish records across England so you can follow people as they move in and out of the capital.
Most ministers or parish clerks recorded only the basic details that were originally required when Henry VIII’s chief minister Thomas Cromwell ordered them to be kept. However, until registers became standardised in the early 1800s, some ministers diligently entered extra detail about the event and the participants they were recording.
Using the parish register collections from the London Metropolitan Archives ( LMA)
These centuries-old documents are priceless research tools
available on Ancestry, you can track down your kin who lived in, or passed through, the capital over the centuries. As well as Anglican registers, Ancestry has LMA’s collection of non- conformist registers (1694-1921) including those of Jews and Quakers. The main challenge when searching parish registers for London family is ensuring you’ve found the right person among the huge population. While you can be fairly certain a John Jackson in a tiny Devon village is likely to be the person you’re after, there’s a lot more uncertainty if you’re researching the same name in London.
At bit.ly/ LMAparishregisters there’s a list of all the parishes and dates covered in the vast collection offered by Ancestry and the LMA. This will guide you around the city and its parish registers, and could help you determine whether the person you find in the records is the one you’re looking for.