Using Parish Records
Parish records are a valuable asset to family historians as they can help get back to about the 1600's and sometimes further back. However they are not always the easiest records to use. This weeks article is a guide on how to use them.
The best place to start is with a birth record, if born after 1837, which should should have the child's parents names. You can also use a census record, which should give the parish your relative was born in and a approximate birth year.
As an example, I am going to use the 1861 census and Robert Shire, born in Otterford, Somerset, aged 8 Months. His parents are John Shire and Mary Ann, who are both born in Yarcombe, Devon.
The next place to go would be the Records Office for the county the parish is in, so in this case the Somerset Records Office (Somerset Heritage Centre) and check for the baptism there. However, this isn't always appropriate as you might live on the other side of the country, or world. So you could check to see if the parish records for the county have been transcribed by doing a search of '[Insert Parish] Parish Records', you may find a unique website dedicated to the parish or you could use FreeReg or Family Search. In this case they have and can be found here.
From the parish records for Otterford, I can see that he was baptised on the 17 November 1863, born on the 31 July 1859 along with some of his brothers and sisters. I can tell it's him as the parents names match as on the census record, along with a similar date of birth found on the census records.
The next thing to look for is the parents, John Shire and Mary Ann, on the earliest census they are together on and check the parish they are living in, in this case the 1841 census and Otterford, which usually means they got married before then. In this case John Shire married Mary Ann Hockey on the 5 November 1838 in Otterford, It also tells me: John, is the son of Henry and Mary Ann is the daughter of George.
From here, I search for the Yarcombe parish records for John Shire and I can't find him. So I look at neighboring parishes these include Otterford, Buckland St Mary and a few more. So I check those parishes till I find him baptised in Buckland St Mary, on the 15 May 1814 with parents Henry, as seen on his marriage record, and Joan.
I am going to continue this process going further back in time. Where I find Henry's marriage to Joan in Yarcombe, Devon.
So far I have found the Baptisms and the Marriages, but now I need to find the burials. The best place to start would be to find the latest census they were on, if possible. In this case, John is last found on the 1891 census, meaning he died between 1891 and 1901 close to Otterford, as that is his last place of residence. So I check to see if there are any John Shire's buried between that time. There is one buried 15 January 1892 aged 77, here you should check to find a estimated birth year which should be around 1814 as that is when he was baptised. It comes up as a birth of around 1815 which is around 1814 meaning it is most probably him.
When searching without the census for records from before then you do the same as you did above, but you have to use more care.
I should also add that the date of Baptism is not the same as the date of birth, however the majority of births will be around the baptismal date. Same applies to Burials.
Published: 27 November 2014
The best place to start is with a birth record, if born after 1837, which should should have the child's parents names. You can also use a census record, which should give the parish your relative was born in and a approximate birth year.
As an example, I am going to use the 1861 census and Robert Shire, born in Otterford, Somerset, aged 8 Months. His parents are John Shire and Mary Ann, who are both born in Yarcombe, Devon.
The next place to go would be the Records Office for the county the parish is in, so in this case the Somerset Records Office (Somerset Heritage Centre) and check for the baptism there. However, this isn't always appropriate as you might live on the other side of the country, or world. So you could check to see if the parish records for the county have been transcribed by doing a search of '[Insert Parish] Parish Records', you may find a unique website dedicated to the parish or you could use FreeReg or Family Search. In this case they have and can be found here.
From the parish records for Otterford, I can see that he was baptised on the 17 November 1863, born on the 31 July 1859 along with some of his brothers and sisters. I can tell it's him as the parents names match as on the census record, along with a similar date of birth found on the census records.
The next thing to look for is the parents, John Shire and Mary Ann, on the earliest census they are together on and check the parish they are living in, in this case the 1841 census and Otterford, which usually means they got married before then. In this case John Shire married Mary Ann Hockey on the 5 November 1838 in Otterford, It also tells me: John, is the son of Henry and Mary Ann is the daughter of George.
From here, I search for the Yarcombe parish records for John Shire and I can't find him. So I look at neighboring parishes these include Otterford, Buckland St Mary and a few more. So I check those parishes till I find him baptised in Buckland St Mary, on the 15 May 1814 with parents Henry, as seen on his marriage record, and Joan.
I am going to continue this process going further back in time. Where I find Henry's marriage to Joan in Yarcombe, Devon.
So far I have found the Baptisms and the Marriages, but now I need to find the burials. The best place to start would be to find the latest census they were on, if possible. In this case, John is last found on the 1891 census, meaning he died between 1891 and 1901 close to Otterford, as that is his last place of residence. So I check to see if there are any John Shire's buried between that time. There is one buried 15 January 1892 aged 77, here you should check to find a estimated birth year which should be around 1814 as that is when he was baptised. It comes up as a birth of around 1815 which is around 1814 meaning it is most probably him.
When searching without the census for records from before then you do the same as you did above, but you have to use more care.
I should also add that the date of Baptism is not the same as the date of birth, however the majority of births will be around the baptismal date. Same applies to Burials.
Published: 27 November 2014
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