England, Durham Diocese Bishops' Transcripts - FamilySearch Historical Records

What is in This Collection?
This collection consists of church records from the county of Durham for the years from 1639-1919. The collection also includes records from select parishes in the counties of Northumberland, York, Yorkshire, and Cumberland.

A parish register is a record of religious ordinances performed in the Church of England. Beginning in 1538, every parish priest was required to write down certain information about every baptism (officially termed “christening” in Anglican use), marriage, and burial that took place in his parish over the course of each year. He was then supposed to bind these pages into a single volume, thereby annually producing a comprehensive history of his ministerial efforts. 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, and separate registers were then kept for baptisms, marriages, and burials. It should also be noted that many parish records were not kept during the Interregnum, 1649-1660, due to temporary changes in the hierarchy of the Church of England.

Due to this long and relatively stable tradition, parish registers are central to English genealogical research as they are often one of the only sources for finding families and individuals in England before the start of civil registration in 1837.

What Can These Records Tell Me?
The following lists indicate potential information given in each type of record. It must be remembered that every record may not provide all the listed information, as the procedures for keeping parish records evolved considerably over the centuries after 1538. It must also be noted that individual parishes often developed record-keeping traditions unique to themselves.

How Do I Search This Collection?
Before searching this collection, it is helpful to know:
 * Name of the person
 * Approximate date of the event

View the Images
View images in this collection by visiting the :
 * 1) Select Place
 * 2) Select Parish
 * 3) Select Year Range to view the images

How Do I Analyze the Results?
Compare each result from your search with what you know to determine if there is a match. This may require viewing multiple records or images. Keep track of your research in a research log.

Some of the records in this collection may be written in an old script that can be challenging to read. Refer to BYU’s Script Tutorial for assistance with reading the records.

I Found the Person I Was Looking For, What Now?

 * Save or print a copy of the image if possible
 * If a christening record is found, use the date to search for a birth record in civil registration
 * If a christening record is found, use the information to look for the individual in censuses
 * If a marriage record is found, search for the new family in future censuses
 * If a burial record is found, use the age or estimated birth year to find a birth record
 * Use the information which has been discovered and locate the original parish record, if possible
 * Continue to search the index for people with the same surname to identify children, siblings, parents, and other relatives
 * Note that family members often appear on an individual's vital records, such as in the role of witnesses to a marriage

I Can’t Find the Person I’m Looking For, What Now?

 * Check for variations of given names and surnames. Individuals could also listed under a middle name, a nickname or an abbreviation of their given name
 * Spelling was not standardized for much of the period of this collection, so pay special attention to how the name should have been pronounced and try variations on the pronunciation
 * Vary the search terms. For example, search by either the given name only or the surname only to return broader list of possible matches
 * Try expanding the date range; this is especially useful in searching baptismal records, as it was not unusual for a child to be baptized weeks or even months after birth
 * Search the records of nearby parishes. For this particular collection, this step may require finding records in the bordering English counties of Northumberland or Yorkshire, or perhaps even Cumberland or Westmorland
 * Note that marriages often took place in the parish where the bride resided
 * The individual in question may not have records in the Church of England at all, but rather might have belonged to a nonconformist denomination. See England Nonconformist Church Records for more information

Known Issues with This Collection
For a full list of all known issues associated with this collection see the attached article. If you encounter additional problems, please email them to [mailto:support@familysearch.org support@familysearch.org]. Please include the full path to the link and a description of the problem in your e-mail. Your assistance will help ensure that future reworks will be considered.

Citing This Collection
Citations help you keep track of places you have searched and sources you have found. Identifying your sources helps others find the records you used.

"England, Durham Diocese Bishop's Transcripts, 1639-1919" Images. FamilySearch. http://FamilySearch.org : accessed 2017. Citing Church of England, Record Office, Matlock.
 * Collection Citation:

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