User:Vovusa/Sandbox

[Title of article (FamilySearch Historical Records)]



Language of the Record
Title: Österreich, Wien, Meldezettel

These records are in German and French.

For more help understanding the language of the record, read: French Wordlist and German Word List

Record Description
This collection will include records from 1600 to 1812.

The parish register collection was formed from records microfilmed at the Norfolk Record Office, then converted to digital images. Microfilming may not have completely captured all volumes in each parish. The collection was published in February 2010 online. Where more than one village has the same place name, FamilySearch has adopted a different place name from that used in the Norfolk Record Office Catalogue.

Norfolk Parishes may be used to identify each parish in the collection. The Diocese of Norwich may include parishes in Suffolk, Norfolk, Lincolnshire, and Cambridgeshire. Depending on the period of the register, parishes transferred to neighbouring Diocese. Search England Jurisdictions 1851 for relevant information in this regard.

As the Research wiki content grows for diocesan parishes, it is hoped to describe the Archdeacon's Transcript parishes with film detail. If a parish cannot be located in the historical records collection, establish whether the Archdeacon's transcripts from the diocese exist on microfilm by place search in the FamilySearch Catalog. The Norfolk Record Office also has a PDF file of parishes and Archdeacon's Transcripts on its website.

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.

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.

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 parish register collection covers records for the years 1530 to 1900.

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.

Most bishops’ transcripts of Church of England parish registers have been preserved. Many have also been copied to microfilm or microfiche. The condition of the records is relatively good considering their age and their storage conditions over the centuries. In 1598, ministers were required to copy their registers onto parchment. If the minister failed to make such a copy, the register for that parish and its records did not survive. During the Commonwealth period, 1649–1660, many parish registers disappeared, and many transcripts were not kept because ministers were deposed from their parishes.

Archdeacon's and Bishop's transcripts for the Diocese of Norwich were sent from each parish annually to the Diocesan authorities.

Prior to 1812, incumbents made their return to Archdeacon's for 6 years out of 7 the seventh Bishop's Visitation Year the return would be made to the Bishop at the time of the visitation.

The Archdeacon's transcripts for the Diocese may contain missing years or part years and have other gaps.

From 1813 onwards, all transcripts were sent to the Bishop.

The earliest transcripts in the Archdeacon's series are from 1600, but in many parishes they have not survived. It is recommended that you search the Archdeacon's Transcript series first then the Bishop's Transcripts series to pick up any gaps in the Archdeacon's series from the Bishop's Transcripts.

The Bishop's Transcripts series at Norfolk Record Office has the two series for the Norwich Archdeaconry and the Norfolk Archdeaconry. Within each Archdeaconry they are kept in yearly bundles and parishes arranged alphabetically for each year with the pre-1812 on microfilm, 1813 onwards on microfiche.

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.

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.

It is usually preferable to use the parish registers if they survive as a primary record. The transcript series is useful in the event that:


 * The parish register has not survived
 * The register is still in the parish and has not been deposited in an archive
 * The parish register is too fragile to use or preserve by filming or digital imaging
 * The parish register is incomplete or cannot be read (transcript may be legible or contain omitted entries.)

Comparison of entries can indicate the reliability of the parish record keeping.

For a list of records by date or locality currently published in this collection, select the Browse link from the collection landing page

Record Content


Baptism records may contain the following information:


 * Date and place of baptism
 * Name of child
 * Gender of child
 * Legitimacy of child
 * Parents' names and residence
 * Occupation of father

Marriage records before 1754 may contain the following information:


 * Date and place of marriage
 * Names of the bride and groom
 * Marriage banns which included the residences of the couple
 * After 1754 the full names of witnesses and the name of the minister are also given.

Marriage records after 1837 may contain the following information:


 * Date and place of marriage
 * Names of the bride and groom
 * Ages and marital status of the bride and groom
 * Residences of the bride and groom at the time of marriage
 * Groom's occupation
 * Name of groom's father
 * Name of bride's father

Burial records may contain the following information:


 * Date and place of burial
 * Name of deceased.
 * Age and gender of deceased
 * Residence of deceased

Search the Collection
To search the collection by index:

Fill in the requested information 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. 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.
 * If your ancestor used an alias or a nickname, be sure to check for those alternate names.
 * Even though these indexes are very accurate they may still contain inaccuracies, such as altered spellings, misinterpretations, and optical character recognition errors if the information was scanned.

For tips about searching on-line collections see the on-line article FamilySearch Search Tips and Tricks.

Related Websites
Tracing your Ancestors in Vienna - Some Guidelines

Related Wiki Articles

 * Austria
 * Austria Vienna Population Registers

Citations for This Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image.

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