Genealogy Chat

most of my family lived and died very near to where i live, and i have quite a lot of information about them is it worth visiting the local churches to look at their records of BMD? if so do you need an appointment or can you just go along and ask? Thanks to anyone who offers assistance, i've found this board so useful already and i only started the family research about 2 weeks ago!! Lorna

If you are so local it is well worth making your aquaintance with the local vicar, but it depends on how far back you are looking, as the church may have deposited its records with the local records office. However, don't dismiss the usefulness of graves. These can turn up all sorts of exciting information. Regards Margaret

Most parish records are now held by the local record office. That should be your first place to check. Wendy

You'll probably find that all the local parish records are in the safe keeping of the county archives. You can see them (or microfiche copies) at the archives yourself. Its usually best to make an appointment just to make sure there's room for you on the day you visit. Anne

Lorna The church will most probably on;ly have the registers which are in current use - historic registers have to be kept (by law) in atmospherically controlled conditions, which most churches cannot provide. They will most likely be with the County Records Office - but you could ring the church to check this first. Incidentally, lots of churches now charge you for looking at records, and even if they don't, a donation is more or less expected. All in all, the County Records Office is much easier and cheaper! However, it is worth going to the church, if they have a burial ground - headstones can be a wonderful way of sorting your family out. Good luck OC

Your local main library may also have filmed copies of parish records, especially the older ones. Parish registers are great for finding people who don't appear on census, eg. baptisms of children born and died between census dates. It is important to check the burial registers. You might then prevent the problems of following the wrong person. Marriage register entries after 1837 will provide identical information to that on a marriage certificate....so you can get alot of information copied for the small price of a photocopy. Good luck.

Lorna, thanks for posting this thread, I was wondering the same thing as my ancestors are mainly in my immediate local area. I did go to the local library last week, tho, and I managed to look through some of their parish records on fische. Allow quite a bit of time tho, as I only had about an hour and a half, and wish I'd had all day!!! It was my first visit to look through any of these sort of records. Just one question if anyone knows - the comment regarding the local church cemetry - would there be a 'map' of the grave locations?? Our local church, it seems, does contain the graves of quite a few of my ancestors and it is a large place!!! Many thanks, Clare x

As lots of other people have said, all but the current parish registers should be deposited at the local archives, and many have been microfilmed, at least up to 1900. One of the burial registers I'm interested in, for Eyam church in Derbyshire, is still in use, would you believe, and the earliest entry in that is dated 1867. I did consider visiting the church to consult the register but haven't got round to it yet. As a point of interest, here's the table of the church parochial fees for 2007, which lays out charges for searches in parish registers (held by the church). I think this means if the search is done for you, but it's a bit ambiguous! http://www(.)cofe.anglican.org/lifeevents/ministry/workofmindiv/dracsc/tableparochialfees2007.doc As far as churchyard grave plans go, at the church in my village in particular, I'm pretty sure they don't have one, but that may not be the same for all churches. It's most definitely worth having a look around the churchyard that you're interested in - if the headstones are still legible they can tell you far more than any burial register could. :-) Chris

Bagpuss, Whether or not your local church cemetery has a map of its graves much depends on them. My husband's family is buried in a local church cemetery (500 years old at least), and they did do a mapping exercise about 5 years ago, but unfortunately couldn't locate the graves of some, included my husband's grandparents. A lot of the cemetery is now just grassland and you can even see where graves have been. Margaret

Which just reminds me. My husband would like to be buried in this grave, so someone, somewhere, should tell me if that is possible. Maybe the local undertakers? Margaret

Thanks for all the answers to my initial thread, they are all very helpful and when i carry on this search i'll be able to use the information you have all given me. Your help is greatly appreciated. Lorna :)

We have a plan showing the location of more recent graves (from about 1890) and also the position of gravestones marking earlier burials. This was made before an extension to the graveyard was applied for. It is not on public view, as it is a working document, but can be consulted by contacting the churchwardens. Many parishes are now part of a group or team of churches, so it is often better to contact a churchwarden rather than the vicar - the information (such as plans or registers) would be kept locally in each church, rather than centrally with the vicar. The fees for consulting current registers ARE steep, but these have been set by the diocese, rather than individual churches. They are based on an hourly charge, or part thereof. Some churches may waive the fee, but I would, and always have, make a donation anyway. Churches are terrifically expensive to maintain, and often the smaller the community, the smaller the congregation. It costs at least £100 a week just for our village church being here and remaining open, as a church. Weekly congregation about 6, so I'm told. Jay

A small point regarding finding graves. Our local vicar is very helpful---it is well worth contacting yours to ask for help. I believe the churches do hold copies of the grave plans of the churchyards, and if you contact the vicar and explain your interest I'm sure that most will help with locations. If it is a large municipal cemetery, that is different altogether, and nowadays you need to contact the local crematorium for help!