Wales Parish Registers - FamilySearch Historical Records

Wales

What Are Parish Registers?
In its most basic sense, a parish register is a record of the baptisms, marriages, and burials performed in a local congregation or parish of the Church of England. These records have been kept relatively consistently and universally across England and Wales since the mid-sixteenth century, and due to this long and stable tradition, these records are central to Welsh genealogical research. Often, they are one of the only sources for finding families and individuals before the start of civil registration in 1837.

History and Format
Shortly after the establishment of the Church of England, a law passed which required parish priests to record all the baptisms, marriages, and burials that they officiated each year. These records, called registers, were supposed to have started in 1538, though some parishes did not start keeping them until as late as 1598.

Initially, a parish priest generally recorded the rites he performed during the year on blank sheets, which sometimes were bound into single volume. Because it was not stated how entries should be kept, early registers show a variety of content and format, depending on the whims of individual priests. In some registers, baptisms, marriages and burials appear in separate columns on the same page, in others they are grouped separately in different parts of the book, or some may have all three together in chronological order. Information supplied in these early registers also varied, though basic vital information is the general norm.

After 1754, a new law required that marriages be recorded in a separate book, and banns—public proclamations of a couple’s intent to marry—were to be recorded in yet another book. Starting in 1812, pre-printed registers were introduced for baptisms, marriages, and burials, and separate registers were then kept for all three. Pre-printed registers have the benefit of defining what information is required to appear in a record, though priests often supplied more than what was asked, as can be seen on some of the example images below.

It should be noted that many parish registers may not be available for the years 1553-1558 and 1642-1660. During the first period, the Catholic Mary Tudor sat on the throne, and the second is the Interregnum, the period of the English Civil War and the subsequent Commonwealth. In both cases, the hierarchy of the Church of England was disrupted, leading to a lapse in record-keeping in some parishes.

Chapelries
While the parish is the basic geographic unit of the Church of England, parishes were sometimes divided into smaller units to better serve churchgoers when the parish church was not easily accessible. These smaller units, called chapelries, had the same authority to perform rites as did their mother parishes, and they therefore had to keep registers in the same way as well. Despite originating in a chapelry, these records properly are still termed parish registers.

Recorded Events
Baptism: Baptism, sometimes called "christening" in Anglican usage, is the initial rite by which an individual is received into the community of faith within the Church of England. This rite is normally undertaken shortly after birth, though it may follow weeks or even months later. Adult baptism is not entirely unheard of, though it is rare. Marriage: Parish registers sometimes list these as "weddings". Between 1754 and 1837, law required couples to marry in the Church of England, no matter their actual denomination. Thus, of the three types of parish register, marriage registers present the most complete coverage of the population of England in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. It should be noted that during this period, couples generally married in the bride's parish, though this was not an officially established rule. Burial: Burial has historically occurred within a few days of death. Until the late nineteenth century, burial registers record many nonconformists, as nonconformists were often buried in Anglican churchyards when cemeteries belonging to their sects were not available.
 * Banns: Banns are formal proclamations of an intent to marry, and they have been the normal prerequisite for marriage in the Church of England since 1754. Though they are not actually parish registers, banns records contain mostly the same information as marriage registers and therefore are often found in collections of parish registers.

What Do Parish Registers Contain?
The following lists indicate the normal information given in each type of parish register record. Many records may provide more information than is listed, as parish priests often provided additional information in their register entries, as can be seen in the examples below.

To view a larger version of any of these images, click on the desired image.

Reading the Records

 * Due to the bilingual nature of Wales, many parish registers either are written in Welsh or contain a scattering of Welsh words. For help with this language, see the following pages:
 * Wales Language and Languages
 * Welsh Words Found in LDS Branch Records
 * May registers, especially early ones, may be written in Latin. For help with this language, see the Latin Genealogical Word List.
 * Old handwriting styles can also present a challenge when reading these records. Refer to BYU’s Script Tutorial for palaeographic assistance.

Calendar Modifications
Between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, calendar reforms took place in Europe which can cause difficulty when attempting to date records from that period.

From ancient times through the Middle Ages, the Julian Calendar was the standard system of keeping dates throughout Europe. By 1582, though, this calendar had come out of sync with the seasons, so Pope Gregory XIII approved a new calendar which fixed this issue by correcting the method of calculating the year and removing eleven days from the calendar. However, the new Gregorian Calendar was not accepted in England until 1752, at which point the eleven days were taken from the month of September to bring the English calendar into accordance with that of other locations in Europe. Thus, register dates for 1752 go immediately from 2 September to 14 September.

1752 also saw the official transition of the beginning of the calendar year from 25 March to 1 January, which also had been mandated by Pope Gregory XIII. Some parish priests had recognized the new calendar before the official transition, and as a result, some register entries from 1582-1751 show dual entries for dates between 1 January and 24 March (e.g., 2 February 1740 may be shown as 2 February 1740/41). Dual entry format is also used in most modern citations for this period to help avoid confusion.

Bishops’ Transcripts
Beginning in 1598, every parish priest of the Church of England was supposed to make a copy of his parish register and send it to send to the archdeacon or bishop every year. Termed either archdeacon’s or bishop’s transcripts, these copies were generally produced in the same form as a regular parish transcript. Many priests stopped producing these transcripts with the beginning of civil registration in 1837, but they did not fully disappear until after 1870.

As bishop’s transcripts generally contain more or less the same information as parish registers, they are an invaluable resource when parish records have been damaged, destroyed, or otherwise lost. Bishop's transcripts are often of value even when parish registers exist, as priests often recorded either additional or different information in their transcripts than they did in the original registers.

Parish Chest Records
By the eighteenth century, the parish had become the basic unit of civil as well as ecclesiastical administration. As such, records dealing with civil or legal matters were often kept at parish churches, generally in a strongbox or chest—hence the term "parish chest" records. The other types of records kept by a parish could include: Given the variety of records held within the parish chest, parish records are not always easy to search. To make parish chest research easier, FamilySearch has separated most parish chest holdings from each county or city into multiple collections according to the type of records present. Thus, to search for parish chest records, do not look for collections labelled as "parish chest" collections. Rather, look for collections of a specific type of record from the correct location.
 * Vestry Minutes
 * Church Rate Books
 * Bastardy Bonds
 * Churchwarden Accounts
 * Settlement and Removal Records
 * Apprenticeship Records

Nonconformist Records
From the sixteenth to the nineteenth century, English or Welsh Christians who belonged to a denomination other than the Church of England were referred to as “nonconformists”. By 1850, many different groups fell into the nonconformist category, including Reformed Christians (Presbyterians and Congregationalists), Baptists, and Methodists. Indeed, by the end of the nineteenth century, approximately fifteen percent of the population of England and eighty percent of the population of Wales were considered nonconformists.

While not the most universal source for English genealogical research, nonconformist church registers are often the most informative and accurate source available for English family history until the start of civil registration in 1837. Nonconformist birth and baptismal registers are fairly common, and they generally contain more information than those of the Church of England. Except for the Quakers and Jews, nonconformist denominations generally did not keep marriage records, especially after 1754. Nonconformist burial records are also less common, as nonconformist individuals were buried in Anglican churchyards if a churchyard belonging to their sect was not locally available.

What is in the Collection?
Baptisms, marriages and burials were recorded on blank pages in a bound book or register. The three events were intermixed in the same volume until 1754 when a law was passed requiring marriages to be recorded in a separate book. Banns were recorded in still another book. Preprinted registers were introduced in 1812 and separate registers were kept for baptisms, marriages, and burials. Pre-1812 bishop’s transcripts were usually recorded on loose pieces of paper. After 1812, the transcripts were recorded on the same preprinted forms as parish registers. Entries are generally in chronological order. Some early parish registers are in Latin or Welsh or have occasional entries in Welsh.

An act passed in 1662 required everyone to conform to the Church of England. Those who did not were called nonconformist. When persecution eased at the beginning of the eighteenth century, nonconformity increased. By 1851 approximately 75 percent of the Welsh population was nonconformist, so many were not included in the Church of England registers. However, between 1754 and 1837, nonconformists could not legally marry outside the Church of England except for Quakers and Jews. Therefore nonconformist marriages are often found in the Church of England records. Also sometimes nonconformists did not have burials grounds and so some members were buried in Anglican churchyards and included in the registers. Parish priests began recording baptisms, marriages, and burials in 1537 according to law. 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, several archdeaconries formed a diocese presided over by a bishop. In 1598 ministers were required to make annual copies of their registers to an archdeacon or bishop. These copies are referred to as bishop’s transcripts. In Wales these transcripts survive from about 1662. Most begin in the eighteenth century. After civil registration began in 1837, the value of keeping bishops’ transcripts diminished and by 1870 most parishes had stopped creating them.

Marriage Banns are proclamations of intent to marry. Unless the couple had a license, couples were required to have the minister read a statement of their intent to marry for three consecutive Sundays before the marriage so anyone knowing reasons why the couple should not be married could oppose it. Banns were proclaimed in both the parish of the bride and the parish of the groom. They were recorded in separate books in 1754.

In 1914 by an act of Parliament, the Church in Wales became independent from the Church of England. The law didn’t go into effect until 1920.

Parish registers were created to record church events of baptism or christening, marriage, and burial. After 1754 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 and were also recorded.

Parish registers are considered fairly reliable and accurate. In July 1837 the government began civil registration of births, marriages, and deaths and information in parish registers and bishops’ transcripts can be compared for verification of information.

Collection Contents
Baptismal records usually contain the following information:


 * Date and place of the baptism
 * Child's name and gender
 * Parents' names and their residence
 * Occupation of father
 * Name of person performing the ceremony

Marriage records usually contain the following information:


 * Date and place of the marriage
 * Name and age of groom
 * Residence of groom
 * Name and age of bride
 * Residence of bride
 * Marital status of each one
 * Occupation(s) of each one
 * Name of groom's father and his occupation
 * Name of bride's father and his occupation
 * Names of witnesses
 * Name of officiant at marriage ceremony

Burial records usually contain the following information:


 * Date and place of burial
 * Name and age of deceased
 * Name of person performing burial rites

How Do I Search the Collection?
Parish registers are one of the best records for identifying individuals, parents, spouses, and connecting them to other generations before July 1837 when the government instituted civil registration of births, marriages, and deaths. Civil registration may provide more information such as birth date and mother’s maiden name for birth information. For the post 1837 period, parish registers still play an important role because they are often more readily available than civil registration. Bishop’s transcripts are a back up source for parish registers. If parish registers are unreadable or missing, then you can search the bishop’s transcripts. Differences may occur because one is a handwritten copy of the other. Burial records may include stillbirths or children not christened. Christening records never include stillbirths. Informants may be family members and occupations can be used to distinguish the correct family if more than one family of the same name exists in the parish. In Wales, given names and surnames are so common that it is important to use more than just the name in identifying an ancestor. It is important to use occupation, residence, family links, probate, estate, and court records to make a correct identification.

The Welsh custom of using patronymics is important to understand when doing research in Wales. Patronymics is the practice of using the father’s given name as the child’s surname. Generally, “ap” or “ab” was added between the child’s name and the father’s name. For example, David ab Owen is David, son of Owen. For a female child, the word “ferch” or “verch”, meaning “daughter of” was used.

Beginning Your Search
To begin your search your will need to know the following basic information about your ancestor:


 * Name
 * Parish where the event (birth, marriage or death) took place
 * Other identifying information such as birth date or names of other family members

Search the Collection
To search the collection fill in the requested information in the boxes on the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information about the individuals in the list to what you already know about your ancestors to determine if this is the correct family or person. You may need to look at the information on several individuals comparing the information about them to your ancestors to make this determination. Keep in mind:
 * There may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * You may not be sure of your own ancestor’s name.
 * Your ancestor may have used different names, or variations of their name, throughout their life.

For tips about searching on-line collections see the on-line video at FamilySearch Search Tips.

What do I do Next?
When you have located your ancestor’s record, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. Save a copy of the image or transcribe the information. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details such as a title, an occupation, or land ownership. Add this new information to your records of each family. You should also look for leads to other records about your ancestors.

Tips to Keep in Mind

 * Continue to search the records to identify children, siblings, parents, and other relatives who may have lived in the same parish.
 * When looking for a person who had a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is correct.
 * You may need to compare the information of more than one family or person to make this determination.

What if I Can't Find Who I'm Looking For?

 * Look for variant spellings of the names. You should also look for nicknames and abbreviated names.
 * Look for an index. There are often indexes at the beginning of each volume. Local genealogical and historical societies often have indexes to local records.
 * Search the indexes and records of nearby parishes and localities.

FamilySearch Historical Record Collections

 * Wales, Anglesey Parish Registers (FamilySearch Historical Records)
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