England, Durham Diocese Bishops' Transcripts - FamilySearch Historical Records

This wiki article describes a collection that is available for free online at FamilySearch Record Search. to access this collection, see

Collection Time Period
In 1537 the Church of England mandated that parishes begin keeping church registers by the next year (1538). These church registers continue to the present. Bishops’ transcripts, or copies of parish registers, were required beginning in 1598 and continued to the mid-1800s.

Collection History
In 1530, King Henry VIII established the Church in England, also known as the Anglican Church, the State Church, or the Episcopal Church. A law passed in 1537 required ministers to record the baptisms, marriages, and burials that took place in their parishes. Priests recorded these events in registers and kept them at the parish level, which is the lowest level of authority in the Church of England. Within some parishes, chapelries were created to provide for the worship needs of the parishioner when the parish church was not easily accessible. Chapelries sometimes had the authority to perform baptisms, marriages, and burials, so they kept their own registers. Several parishes formed a deanery (presided over by a dean), several deaneries formed an archdeaconry (presided over by an archdeacon), and several archdeaconries formed a diocese (presided over by a bishop).

Beginning in 1598, ministers were required to send copies of their registers to an archdeacon or bishop annually. These copies are referred to as bishops’ transcripts, or sometimes archdeacon transcripts. As a result, two copies of many parish registers exist from 1598 to about the mid-1800s. After civil registration began in 1837, the value of keeping bishops’ transcripts diminished, so by 1870 most parishes had stopped making them.

Banns are proclamations of an intent to marry. After 1754 these banns were required to be read for three consecutive Sundays before a marriage so that anyone with reasons against the marriage could oppose it. Banns were read in both the bride’s parish and the groom’s parish. The vast majority of the English population belonged to the Church of England. Only since the mid-19th century have other religious groups made headway.

The Durham Diocese transcript collection is fragmented The Howe Manuscript Collection outlines the local collection and storage history for the Diocese. Durham Transcripts were also affected by geographical boundary changes North Durham

explains the background to the inclusion of parishes and burial Grounds in Cumberland and North Yorkshire, as well as the designation of certain Northumberland parishes.

Each parish in the Diocese has been entered in Research Wiki and where a place has an alias these have been cross referenced to parishes. Extra parochial places mentioned contain indications of nearby parishes.

Why This Collection Was Created
Parish registers were created to record church events of baptism or christening, marriage, and burial. Baptismal entries usually list the person’s birth date, and burial entries list the death date. In the Church of England, baptism, which was also called christening, was performed soon after the birth of a child. Marriage in the church legally united a man and a woman for civil legal reasons and for the purpose of founding a religiously sanctified family. Burial is a function of the church to inter the deceased soon after death.

Collection Reliability
Church of England parish registers are the most reliable and accurate family history source until July 1837, when the government instituted the civil registration of births, marriages, and deaths. Information in parish registers and bishops’ transcripts can be verified against each other.

The Durham Transcripts were deposited in 1951 with the Durham University Library Special Collections. In this phase they were organised chronologically by parish name and each parish was catalogued with a reference prefixed DDR/EA/BT and then pages were sequenced in a numerical order. thus the parish of Aycliffe:

Aycliffe (Durham) Reference number: DDR/EA/PBT/2/14 Date: 1762-1877 will have page sequences DDR/EA/PBT/2/14/1 for 1762 to DDR/EA/PBT/2/14/474 for 1877

Note: The Record Search image collection is not completely loaded and there are parishes which do not yet appear. Further engineering work is needed to load all images and to improve search features. Please refer to the parish name in Research Wiki for specific information about images for each parish. The parish entry will indicate if partial images are available and where to locate them.

Collection Description
Baptisms (christenings), marriages, and burials were recorded on blank pages in a bound book called a register. The events of baptism, marriage, and burial were all recorded in one volume until 1754, when a law required that marriages be recorded in a separate book. Banns, or proclamations of “an intent” to marry, were recorded in yet another book. Starting in 1812, preprinted registers were introduced, and then separate registers were kept for baptisms, marriages, and burials. Before 1812, bishops’ transcripts were usually recorded on loose pieces of paper. Following that year, the transcripts were recorded on the same preprinted forms as parish registers.

Record Content
Church of England parish register baptism records usually contain: • Baptism date • Name of the child • Sex of the child • Legitimacy of the child • Marital status of the parents • Social class of the parents • Name of the father and often mother’s given name • May list the residence of the parents, especially after 1812

How To Use The Collection
Parish registers are one of the best sources for identifying individuals and connecting them to parents, spouses, and other generations. In July 1837 the government instituted the civil registration of births, marriages, and deaths. However, parish registers continue to play an important role because they are often more readily available than civil registers. Bishops’ transcripts are a backup source for parish registers that are missing or illegible. If possible, you may want to search both the parish registers and the bishops’ transcripts since one is a handwritten copy of the other and might contain differences. Baptism or christening records list the parents’ names, making it possible for you to connect your ancestor to an earlier generation. You may find a birth date listed or be able to approximate a birth date. After 1812 the baptismal records list a place of residence, making it easier to identify your family by where they lived. The records also list the father’s occupation, which makes it easier to identify your ancestor's family when more than one family with the same name lived in the parish.

Marriage records sometimes state the residence for the bride and groom. You can use this information to look for their baptisms and to identify the children of this couple. Sometimes the groom’s occupation is listed, which could help you find more records about the groom. Marriage records after 1754 list the names of witnesses, who were often family members. These can help you identify your ancestor’s family. Signatures in the records might be used to identify a particular individual by the handwriting style. After 1812 and sometimes before, burial records include the age of the deceased. Use this age to approximate the person’s birth year and to find the baptismal record. If the deceased is a child, the parents’ names might be given. This information helps to extend your family another generation. The occupation of a deceased male might be given (especially after 1812) and can help identify your ancestor when there is more than one person by that name in the area. Knowing the occupation might also provide you the opportunity to find other records about your ancestor.

Banns indicate the parish of residence of the bride and groom. This information often leads to the records of another parish. You can search for the baptisms of the bride and groom in the parishes of residence since these might also be the parishes where they were born.

Bibliographical Information
Church of England. [Name of parish (county)]. Parish registers, [date range]. From URL, date accessed or downloaded. Digital reference number if any, volume title (if any), volume number (if any), name of individual, event date. Example: Church of England. Parish Church of Cradley (Herefordshire). Parish registers, 1560–1988. From FamilySearch Internet, September 29, 2006. Baptisms 1813–1875, Alfred Levi, baptized 23 Oct 1859. Church of England. [Name of parish and county]. Parish registers, [date range]. Salt Lake City. Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, [date]. Microfilm/item number, volume title (if any), volume number (if any), page number, name of individual, event date.

Related Article

 * Bishop's Transcripts