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 On the order of Henry VIII, a
register of Birth, Marriages and Deaths began to be kept by the Church in 1538. One record was kept in the Parish Church and a copy sent by each Parish Priest
to the Bishop and these we know as Bishop's Transcripts. Microfilm or microfiche of all these documents can be seen in that area's Archive, in our case
Lincoln, and some kept in large local libraries. As not everyone is able to travel to see these we thought we would try and get all of this information onto our web
site and format it as near as possible to the original records recording as much information as
possible. At the moment we are studying only the Parish Registers, but if we ever finish these we hope to study
the Bishop's Transcripts and fill as many gaps as possible.
- Some of the entries have been difficult to read either because the page is damaged ( rips, inkblots etc..) or
because of the curate's handwriting style, so if we have been unsure of anything a ? is entered.
- Many entries are abbreviated and so these have been entered in full but with [ ] surrounding our
interpretation.
- Some confusion can also be caused by different spellings of the same surname. You may come across
entries where the husband, wife and child all spell their names differently. ALL entries are as the Register,
we have not changed anything, even where we know spellings to be incorrect. The Reverend Charles
Knowles for example seems to have his own spellings - Brumby becomes Bromby, Bratton - Brattan, so care must be taken to look for near matches when searching for names.
The information for BAPTISMS can be confusing. For a while both baptism and birth dates were given which is
unusual but a helpful addition. Some Curates give both baptism and christening dates which we would now
consider to be the same thing. We understand this to be where the child had one ceremony at home and then
another at a later date in the Church. It has been suggested that the later was a large family occasion. Being
Received into the Church can also be seen in the notes column and in some cases the date is years later than
the entry date. Again this was a service being held after the baptism and the date entered retrospectively. P in
the notes mean in most cases Private in the home but may all mean Pauper. Lay people all baptised usually
when the child was ill again this information is given. It may also be noted that some children were baptised after death.
The DEATHS have some interesting additions - the reason for the deaths given in some instances enabling us to
see outbreaks of smallpox for example.
The MARRIAGE record gives us a wealth of information not only about the couple but also their fathers, their
occupations, where they lived and could they write for example. (See scanned photo.) Family history
enthusiasts may find 'lost' relations popping up as witnesses to a marriage and is certainly worth a scroll down that column.
We are working backwards from 1906 in blocks of approximately 25years but there is a vast amount of work to
do. If the information you require is not there please keep checking back to the site or, if you can't wait, please
send us a mail. Please also note that we have done our best to be as accurate as possible but some mistakes
are bound to occur either by typing error or misinterpretation.
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