England, Cheshire Parish Registers - FamilySearch Historical Records

England Cheshire

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FamilySearch International works closely with governments, archives, and societies to bring its vast historical records content online into full compliance with all applicable legal parameters by record type, country, and record custodian. The current privacy cut off dates for the European Union are 100 years for Births and 75 years for Marriages; there are no privacy restrictions on Deaths records. The later records in the England, Cheshire Parish Registers 1538-2000 are for deaths; births and marriage records are only available up to the stated cut off year.

What is in the Collection?
This collection includes church records from the county of Cheshire, covering the period 1538-2000.

The collection includes some parishes within the Diocese of Chester which are in fact in the county of Lancashire. Indeed some parishes include within their parish bounds both sides of a river which marks the county boundary. Until the 1847 creation of the Diocese of Manchester and the later creation of the Diocese of Liverpool and Blackburn, the Diocese of Chester contained parishes throughout Lancashire. It is useful to explore Lancashire Parishes as well as Cheshire Parishes and to use England Jurisdictions 1851 to locate pre-1851 parish boundaries.

In its most basic sense, 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 for over a decade during the Commonwealth, beginning in 1649.

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.

Beginning in 1598, parish priests were supposed to make a copy of their parish register and send it to send to the archdeacon or bishop every year. Termed bishop’s transcripts, these copies were generally produced in the same form as a regular parish transcript. Many priests stopped producing bishop’s 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. However, because bishop's transcripts are, as their name implies, copies of the original records, they are more liable contain errors than parish registers might be.

Most collections of bishops’ transcripts have been preserved, and their condition is relatively good considering the age of the records and their storage conditions over the centuries. Many collections have also been copied to microfilm or microfiche.

Coverage Table A list of the counties and events contained in this collection is found in the England Cheshire Church of England Registers and Bishops Transcripts (FamilySearch Historical Records) Coverage Table.

Collection Content
Baptism records from a Church of England parish register may include the following:


 * Baptism date
 * Name of the child
 * Sex of the child
 * Legitimacy of the child
 * Marital status of the parents
 * Social class of the parents
 * Name of the father and often mother’s given name
 * May list the residence of the parents, especially after 1812

Marriage records from a Church of England parish register may include the following:


 * Marriage date
 * Name of the bride and groom
 * Age of the bride and groom
 * May list names of parents or other relatives
 * After 1837, the full names of the fathers
 * Residence of the bride and groom
 * Marital status of individuals and couples
 * May list the dates that the marriage was announced (also called “banns published”). This normally took place on three separate occasions prior to the marriage and gave anyone with a valid reason a chance to object to the marriage.
 * After 1754, the full names of witnesses
 * May note if a spouse is single or widowed at the time of the marriage

Burial records from a Church of England parish register may include the following:


 * Burial date
 * Name of the deceased. If the deceased is a child, the father’s name might be given. If the deceased is a married woman, the husband’s name might be given.
 * Age of the person
 * Residence of the deceased
 * May give the sex of the deceased
 * Residence of the deceased

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search in these records, it would be helpful if you knew any or all of the following information:


 * Names of parents
 * Approximate year and place of baptism
 * Name of bride and groom
 * Approximate year and place of marriage
 * Name of deceased
 * Approximate year and place of death

To search this collection by name:c Fill in the requested information in the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information about the ancestors 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 several images and compare the information about the individuals listed in those images to your ancestors to make this determination.

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


 * You may find a birth date listed or be able to approximate a birth date.
 * After 1812, the baptismal records list a place of residence, making it easier to identify your family by where they lived.
 * Marriage records sometimes state the residence for the bride and groom. You can use this information to look for their baptisms and to identify the children of this couple. Marriage records after 1754 list the names of witnesses, who were often family members. These can help you identify your ancestor’s family. Signatures in the records might be used to identify a particular individual by the handwriting style.
 * After 1812, and sometimes before, burial records include the age of the deceased. Use this age to approximate the person’s birth year and to find the baptismal record.
 * If the deceased is a child, the parents’ names might be given. This information helps to extend your family another generation.

What if I Can't Find Who I'm Looking For?
Bishops’ transcripts are a backup source for parish registers that are missing or illegible. If possible, you may want to search both the parish registers and the bishops’ transcripts since one is a handwritten copy of the other and might contain differences.

Banns indicate the parish of residence of the bride and groom. This information often leads to the records of another parish. You can search for the baptisms of the bride and groom in the parishes of residence since these might also be the parishes where they were born.

Known Issues with These Collections
England, Cheshire Parish Registers, 1538-2000:

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.

England, Cheshire Bishop’s Transcripts 1598-1900 known issues:

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
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.

Parish Registers Collection Citation and Bishop Transcripts Collections Citation

"England, Cheshire Parish Registers, 1538-2000" and "England, Cheshire Bishop's Transcripts, 1598-1900." Database. FamilySearch. http://FamilySearch.org : accessed 2016. Citing Church of England Record Office, Chester, England.

Parish Registers Record Citation (or citation for the index entry):

Bishop Transcripts Record Citation (or citation for the index entry):