PARISH REGISTERS.
The study of parish registers is quite apart from that of old deeds.
The writing of the former begins at the period where the latter usually
end, for deeds written in the seventeenth century are regarded by the
antiquary as ‘modern’; but then comes the most difficult handwriting of
all to decipher, because the old race of scholarly clerks had died out
and been replaced by less educated men.
Parish registers are unique in many ways. They contain information
nowhere else obtainable. Sometimes, besides the mere repetition of
names, there are inserted scraps of original information, for the
clergyman had undisputed control of the volumes until 1652, which
remained usually in the keeping of his deputy, the parish clerk, and
either of them could enter in the books whatever he pleased.
Every now and then an outcry arises as to the condition and care of
parish registers, and desire is expressed that they should be deposited
in a large public office similar to the Public Record Office; but
anyone who has wished to make or obtain extracts from the registers
at the diocesan registries is well aware of the trouble and expense
involved. Search fees soon mount up. As regards expense and difficulty
of searching, the Registers of Ireland are far worse than England. Many
are the known instances where the precious volumes have been purposely
mutilated, or by neglect suffered to fall into decay and illegibility;
but, as a whole, it is wonderful to see the excellent condition and
preservation of these old records, which, if once removed out of
their own parishes into a large public collection, would lose all
individuality, and become merged in the mass of manuscripts which are
more or less buried in every large library.
It is a pity that some arrangement cannot be made to ensure
preservation by a few copies being printed of each register.
Transcribing is gradually being undertaken privately, but ought to be
worked on a more systematic plan with uniformity throughout England.
The Parish Register Society prints volumes, but there is no special
library or collection of transcripts, printed or MS., and the British
Museum refuses to buy any because they are not ‘original,’ which, by
the way, could not legally be bought or possessed by anyone.
The printing of a few copies would not in any way affect the fees
accruing to the clergy from researches, but rather tend to increase
them, for at present much information is lost because its whereabouts
is unknown. It is this question of search-fees which causes such a
steady resistance on the part of the resident clergy to any such
project. But in spite of this the work has been begun already, and some
day will be a public affair, and not left to private enterprise. The
registers of many parishes are printed, or have MS. transcripts all
ready for the press; nor is the expense as great as might be imagined.
A few copies unbound may be produced at a cost of from £3 to £10, and
can easily be covered by subscription.
It is not unusual, when applying by letter for extracts from an old
register, to receive a reply of apology from the clergyman recommending
a personal search on the part of the inquirer, as the information could
not be sent owing to inability to read the unfamiliar old handwriting.
This would be avoided if a typed or printed copy properly indexed
were at hand for reference, while on any important matter, where an
attested copy from the original was necessary, it could be obtained
as heretofore, for legal work the original must be consulted, and a
certificate obtained from the clergyman.
The history of English parish registers commences from the Reformation
year of 1536, copied from the Spanish idea. Whether any previous system
had existed we are unable to say, for information on the subject is
lacking. Here and there fragments of registers are known earlier than
the above-quoted date, but these are the exception, not the rule.
Deaths noted down by the chantry priests or monks are found on the
margins of old monastic breviaries, when prayers for the souls of the
departed had been desired.
The subject is one of vast importance, for without proper registration
it is impossible to decide the legality of a marriage or prove
legitimacy of offspring, both necessary points of law where inheritance
of landed property is concerned.
The scheme of parochial registration, as devised by Henry VIII.’s
shrewd minister Cromwell, was only copied from a like plan long in use
abroad.
The idea at first, being new to the English people, met with much
opposition, being mistaken for a new species of taxation. Nevertheless,
Parliament ordered it to be carried out under penalty of fines, and,
being found a valuable institution, was submitted to, until custom
fully established it. Thus our parish registers cannot be older than
1536. Though in a few instances earlier MSS. exist they are the
exception, for the order did not become general till two years later,
therefore 1538 may be reckoned as the year when registers may be said
to have in reality begun in England.
At first the registers were carefully written, the entries being in
Latin. After a while less care was taken. The notes were made on
rough strips of paper called ‘clerk’s notes,’ and were supposed to be
entered at fixed intervals in the book; but often this was irregularly
performed, and the strips were mislaid and lost before they could be
copied. In some parishes both the clerk’s notes as well as the old
register book may still be seen and compared. Very few persons know
that these are the original entries, and I believe ignorance of the
fact excludes them as legal evidence. The religious uncertainty of the
succeeding reigns caused the question of registration to be ignored,
but Queen Elizabeth issued several commands on the subject, notably
that by which transcripts were yearly sent at Easter to be preserved
among the diocesan records.
Most of the old parish register books now existing are transcripts made
according to Queen Elizabeth’s command, as can be seen at a glance, for
the handwriting is uniform throughout, which could not have been the
case if the notes made by the clerk had been periodically copied into
the book. Curiously, the date of these Acts is not known. The bulk of
the transcripts date from 1558. Another more stringent Act, to ensure
yearly copies being made, was passed upon James I.’s accession to the
throne, and the clergyman’s name was to be affixed to each page as
witness that the copy was faithfully exact. Had these wise regulations
been carried out to the letter, and in the spirit that was intended,
we should now possess an invaluable corroboration of the accuracy of
the parish registers; but alas! the transcripts to be found in the
diocesan registries are meagre and imperfect. Years and series of
years are missing, and the entries are so lacking in detail as to be
practically useless. In some dioceses no transcripts remain--Rochester,
for instance.
Personal search can, of course, be made among the diocesan registers,
and this is strongly to be recommended, for any mistakes in a
transcript render it not only valueless, but mischievous. Extracts from
registers are the most dangerous material a genealogist has to deal
with. Unless further authenticated by wills and old deeds to confirm
the relationship, it will be found no easy job to piece together
these broken links in the chain of evidence, and without wilful
misrepresentation being intended, mistakes may and will occur.
Take, for instance, any name, and try to trace out the pedigree with
the help of the parish register only. At first it is easy enough,
whether worked backwards or forwards, but after the first three or
four generations have been worked out all certainty of relationship is
lost, and becomes confused.
The handwriting of the parish registers is a combination of the old set
law-hand and the personal handwritings mentioned in the second chapter.
Original entries (_i.e._, entries made at the time of performing
the religious ceremony) are seldom met with before the middle of James
I.’s reign, by which time the Latin language had fallen into disuse.
The Commonwealth Government passed an Act of Parliament appointing
paid registrars to every village (1653). These were often illiterate
men, whose only accomplishments consisted of being able to read and
write, and whose zeal and discretion alone regulated the keeping of
the register books. This duty was often but ill-performed, especially
when age and infirmity overtook the registrar, who continued in office
until death relieved him of his duties. No second registrar seemed in
any case to have been appointed, nor did the Act of Parliament provide
for such a contingency, and the work of keeping the registers devolved
again upon the clergyman and his assistant clerk.
For several years after the Restoration of 1660 the registers were
irregularly kept, and very erratic. The old race of educated clerks
was gone. Formerly, when the registers first began, clerkships may
have been filled by men educated in the monasteries, who, when turned
adrift, were glad to employ themselves as priests’ chaplains or private
tutors as a means of livelihood.
Until the last century very few small schools of any kind existed for
the poorer classes, except those provided by charitable bequests. These
were few and far between, and could be of little benefit to the masses
of the people. No wonder, then, that the ill-paid clergy were obliged
to be content with very uneducated men to serve in the capacity of
clerk. The registers of the latter part of the seventeenth century are
indited in every variety of illegibly bad writing.
The chief difficulty of reading the old registers lies in the immense
variety of forms a name was capable of passing through, owing to the
laxity of English spelling and pronunciation. The people only knew
their own surnames by oral tradition, and were entirely dependent upon
the parish clerk, who wrote down the name as it sounded to him, and
as sounds have a different effect on different persons, the commonest
names often appeared in very strange and unrecognisable disguises
before they finally crystallized into their modern forms. Eeles,
Yeeles, became Wells.
It is not unusual to find items of miscellaneous information jotted
down at random by the clergyman among the entries of births,
marriages, and deaths. Heavy falls of snow, disastrous floods,
periods of drought, storms of any kind, were all events of great
local importance in country places, and would remain for a long time
as traditional landmarks in their annals. Alas! such items are rare,
and are now rendered impossible in the printed columns of the modern
register books.
The most useful and least troublesome way to catalogue the contents of
a parish register for reference is to write out the year, and below it
enter the births, marriages, and deaths, with the names occurring under
each heading, but without taking the time or trouble to copy the dates
of day or month, these last being only required for law investigations,
and for which purpose a signed certificate from the clergyman direct
from the originals only would be received as evidence.
Parliamentary blue-books have been issued on the subject of parochial
registers, and a most useful pamphlet is issued by the Parish Register
Society every few years, giving as complete a catalogue as possible of
all registers of which up to the present day printed copies or indexes
have been made.
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