Welsh Church RecordsMalad Welsh Festival 2011

What we will discuss

Intro

What you need to start

Records

Record supplements/substitutes

Case study

Introduction

The parish was the center of the world

Before 1834 the parish was the both the civil and ecclesiastical center of life.

Parish Registers

Recording christenings, marriages and burials went into effect in 1538.

There are just over 1,000 ancient parishes (created before 1813) but only 71 survive before 1600.

Many parishes have no registers before 1754.

Key Dates

1538 Order to begin recording christenings, marriages and burials

1538 – 1732 expect registers in Latin

1698 – 1703 some events not registered to avoid taxation

1752 the first day of the year is changed from 25 March to 1 January

Key Dates

1754 separate, pre-printed forms used to record marriages

1597 – 1917 Bishop’s transcripts

1783-1794 Stamp Act taxed all registrations

1813 printed forms used for christenings & burials

1837 parishes use the same form for marriages as civil registration

Jurisdictions

Several levels of jurisdiction applied to the area where your ancestor lived.

The parish and diocese are very important for family history research.

What you need to get started

What you need to get started A place, the parish name is good

Having the village or farm name is best

Name of the ancestor

Reference tools Gazetteers Maps Book: Parish Registers of Wales

Records

Christenings

Christenings often show:

child’s given name Father’s name Mother’s name

Sometimes included: Family residence

such as the village, street or farm name

Father’s occupation

Post 1812 parish register

Bishop’s Transcript

Marriages

Marriages

Get your bearings Map of the country Map of the county showing all parishes Atlas and Index of Parish Registers

FHL book# 942 E7pa

Start with a marriage index

Search the Family History Library

Catalog by doing a place search for

the county

Use the IGI

Marriage and Census Indexes FHL

book# 942 D27gjh

Marriages pre 1754

Pay close attention to all names

Typical post 1753 parish register

Details to watch for 1754-1837

I’d like to look at a Banns register for 1818 but according to Parish Registers of Wales the records do not exist.

Note that the BTs start a generation earlier than PRs

Banns register

Banns register

Marriage by license

Post 1836 Parish Register

Pre 1813 burial (1750)

Post 1813 burial

Indexes First

NBI Coverage for Wales

Breconshire 5,000

Cardiganshire 108,000

Glamorganshire 361,000

Monmouthshire 9,000

Montgomeryshire less than 1,000

Radnorshire 11,000

Something to Remember

The National Burial Index does not include information from monumental inscriptions

Post 1812 Burial Register

Record Supplements/substitues

Record Supplements/Substitutes

Parish of origin

Illegitimacy

Migration

Marriage banns, marriage license, settlement examination

Poor law, church warden accounts, vestry minutes, petty sessions, quarter sessions, probate

Electoral registers, poor law, rates (tax)

Petty Sessions

Application of Hannah Davies against Charles Roberts Defendant appears

Hannah Davies of the parish of Llangefelach maketh Oath and saith as follows. I am unmarried .

On the 28th of January last I was delivered of a male Bastard Child at the said parish of Llangefelach in which parish I now resided. The Defendant Charles Roberts who is now present is the father of that Child. About Eighteen months ago the Defendant was in my Mother’s House with me and Thomas Lewis was then in the next Room. This was about ten oClock at night He then promised to marry me. He had been courting me for about six months previously, and Continued to court me until the month of June last when he went away to Liverpool. He frequently promised to marry me after the occasion I have spoken of During the time he was courting me he came on many occasions to my mother’s House, but I used to meet him generally every Saturday night or Sunday near my mother’s House In about a week after the birth of the Child I desired my Brother William Davies to go…

Record Supplements/Substitutes

Poor quality or missing parish registers and Bishop’s transcripts may be supplemented by monumental inscriptions.

Manuscript pedigrees may predate the surviving parish registers.

Search Strategies

Kill off your ancestor

Always search both the PRs and BTs

Census Parish Register Bishop’s Transcript

Case Study