Ancestry adds transcripts of Norfolk parish registers for 1600–1935
A significant collection of Bishops’ and Archdeacons’ Transcripts of Norfolk parish registers dating from 1600 to 1935 has been added to ancestry.co.uk.
In total, the collection consists of images and searchable transcripts of 5,930,500 records from Norfolk Record Office.
From 1538, ministers of the newly formed Church of England were required to keep records of baptisms, marriages and burials in their parish, and copies of these records had to be sent to the bishop of the diocese. These contemporary transcripts can provide a useful substitute for missing parish registers. They may be slightly different, however, if an error was made as the information was copied, or corrections or additional details were inserted. Family historians are advised to check both copies if they are available.
The new Ancestry collection contains the transcripts for parishes with names beginning A–N. The second half of the alphabet will be added later this year. It also includes the Weekly Register Bills from Great Yarmouth. These were submitted each week by the parish clerk, curate or incumbent of Yarmouth to the borough justices, giving details of baptisms, marriages and burials within the parish, and were often used to administer poor relief.
Among the transcripts is a copy of the baptism record of Horatio Nelson in the village of Burnham Thorpe on 6 October 1758. He would join the Navy at the age of 12, and end up commanding Britain’s naval forces in the Napoleonic Wars.