Parish Records

[celia]

[quote Fiona]the parish priest or equivalent can check records so you will know at least whether the person was or not or at least not in that area, etc. helps to narrow things down

A Parish Priest/vicar checking records I have never ever heard of one doing that before Just think the church would turn into a archives if word got round that one did .
Have you been lucky enough to have this done for you

Celia

[O1dgobbo]

Hi

I have a John Heaviside (1789-1830), living in Durham, in my tree.  I  have found two recorded marriages, the first to Esther Palmer and the second to Mary Wandless:  both marriages are listed in Church of England Registers (St Oswald and St Giles respectively).  The christenings of Esther's three children are listed in a Roman Catholic register as are the christenings of an illegitimate child born to Mary before her marriage and her first child in the marriage but  the christenings of her subsequent children were recorded in Church of England registers.  This seems to be consistent with a requirement that, at this time (1820 to 1830) marriages should in a Church of England but that christenings could be recorded by at least some Roman Catholic churches and chapels.

All the best

Gobbo

[Little Nell]

If I may quote from Ancestral Trails by Mark Herber

Church of England parish registers record baptisms marriages and burials, sometimes as early as 1538. They are the prime source of information for genealogists in the period up to 1837, but they are also an important source for the period since 1837. From 1598 copies of entries from many parish registers were also prepared by parish priests and sent to bishops or archdeacons. These copies are known as bishops’ transcripts. Catholic priests also kept registers of baptisms, marriages and burials. From the 17th century Protestant groups such as Baptists also developed independently of the Church of England; these non—conformists also kept their own registers.

There is much more to this subject than this brief introduction and I would recommend that you look at some "how to guides" or books explaining the types of records you may need to search when you cannot find your ancestors where you expect.  Some Non-confirmist baptisms may be found in Dr Williams Library collections (see some of these topics for a more detailed explanation:
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,11051.0.html
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,13806.0.html
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,173589.0.html
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,268872.0.htm

These non-conformist records can be found at the National Archives (RG4-9) but some can also be searched online at:

http://www.bmdregisters.co.uk/

It is a subscription site.

Of course some non-conformist records are included on the IGI - which is always a good starting point despite the fact that it is incomplete and sometimes misleading.

Nell
 

[Just Kia]

Staying hopeful that I may find them then =)

Many thanks for those links, will spend some time reading them up

[trish251]

Many of my families from Cheshire/Staffordshire families 1770 - 1837 belonged to non-conformist churches and most of their baptisms appear on the IGI and/or on films held by the LDS church.

If you access the LDS catalogue & look up your parishes/villages/towns, you will see what films are available from the family history centres - the registers, of course, are probably also available elsewhere.

Trish