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Using all the governmental documentary resources available, plus
a good helping of luck, it is quite reasonable to expect to get
a good part of your family history back to the end of the 18th
century and possibly even a bit further back than that. To get
back into the 16th century and beyond, however, needs the existence
of a 'gateway' ancestor, ie. one that is either titled or landed
gentry and important enough to be mentioned in official documents.
Unfortunately, most family trees don't throw up this sort of obliging
figure!
When you first decide to research your family history one of
the biggest problems for most of us is that we don't actually
know what sort of records were kept, or when and what we should
be looking for. It helps to try to keep in mind the historical
context of the time. A few key dates will probably help:
1530s
The Dissolution of the Monasteries in the reign of Henry Vlll.
The Religious Houses had been responsible for alleviating suffering
amongst the poor and sick and their destruction created even greater
hardship for the needy.
Pre 1538
Generally, you will only find records of nobility and landowners,
whose status brought responsiblities and taxation which, in turn,
means there might be survivng records. You will find very few
references to women, by name.
Few Parish records were kept of births, marriages or deaths. Of
the ones that were kept not many survive. Record keeping was in
the hands of the Parish Church.
The Probate of Wills, right up to 1858, was in the hands of the
hierarchy of ecclesiastical courts. Depending on how wealthy or
influential your ancestor was will indicate, to a degree, where
to start looking for the will. The Archdeaconry Court dealt with
wills in which all the property to be disposed of was located
in a single Archdeaconry (which could be several parishes). If
the property extended into another Archdeaconry but was still
in the same Diocese then the will was proved in Bishop's Court.
If the property was located in more than one Diocese then the
will had to be proved in the Prerogative Court of the Archbishop.
There were just 2 of these Prerogative Courts, those of York and
Canterbury. However, application could be made for a will to be
proved in a higher court than was strictly necessary. And, just
to complicate things even further, there were also 'Peculiar Courts'
in which, historically, probate jurisdiction had been granted
to other bodies eg. a manorial court.
1538
During the reign of Henry Vlll legislation was passed requiring
that a record should be kept of every baptism, wedding and burial
(note: this is 'baptisms' not 'births' and 'burials' not 'deaths)
conducted in the parish, and kept on paper in a chest with 2 locks,
one for the parson and one for the churchwarden. This was the
Parish Chest in which, eventually, all the important papers and
records of the Parish would be kept.
1540
The Statue of Wills came into effect. Before 1540 a person's 'Will'
and their 'Testament' were two separate documents. Before 1540
all land was deemed to belong to the Crown and, as such, on a
person's death an Inquisition Post Mortem was held to decide to
whom the tenancy should go. To circumvent this a person would,
during his lifetime, make a 'Will' which dealt with the conveyance
of land to trustees who would then hold it for the owner's use
during his lifetime and to his heir on his death. The 'Testament'
gave instructions, for the disposal of his other belongings, on
his death. In 1540 These two documents were combined to become
'The Last Will and Testament' with which we are familiar today.
1572
Following the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 1530s, there
was no organised system of charity and care for the poor and sick
of any parish. As a result, the Act of 1572 created Overseers
of the Poor whose responsiblity for the levying, collection and
distribution of charity continued until the Poor Law Act of 1834
transferred their authority to The Poor Law Guardians.
1598
During Elizabeth's reign, the requirements for securing Parish
Records were ammended to 3 locks (2 churchwardens would each have
a key). It was also required that records should now be kept on
parchment (it was more durable than paper). It was intended that
all the earlier records, going back to 1538 would be copied onto
parchment but this wasn't fully understood and many were only
transcribed from 1558 onwards.
Additionally, each year a copy of the register was to be sent
to the Bishop. These are known as the Bishop's Transcripts.
1601
Poor Law Act came into effect and formalised the responsibilities
of the Overseers of the Poor and collection and distribution of
relief to the parishioners. All transactions had to be recorded
in an account book.
1642 - 1660
During the years of the Civil War and the Commonwealth (or Interregnum)
the registers weren't always kept properly and those that were
didn't always survive. In 1660, after the Restoration of the Monarchy,
the system reverted to that of before the Commonwealth.
1653 - 1657
During this period of the Commonwealth the right to perform marriages
was removed from the clergy and became a civil matter to be performed
by a Justice of the Peace.
1662, 1691 & 1697
The Settlement Acts. These acts empowered Justices of the Peace
to examine newcomers to the Parish and expel those who might claim
Poor Relief. They were expected to return to the parish of their
birth which had ultimate responsibility for them.
1666 - 1678
To protect the woollen trade an act was passed requiring that
a woollen shroud should be used when burying the dead. An affidavit
had to be sworn to this effect, at each burial, and a heavy fine
was imposed for non-compliance.
1751/1752
Until 1752 the New Year began on 25th March, Lady Day. This was
known as the Julian Calendar. The year 1751 started on 25th March
and ended on 31st December with the new year of 1752 starting
on the 1st January. This is known as the Gregorian calendar. This
needs to be taken into consideration when dating and researching
documents before 1751.
1754
Hardwicke's Marriage Act of 1753 came into effect. Amongst other
things the act required the marriage registers to be pre-printed
and to a standard format. A marriage could only be performed after
the calling of banns or by licence. It also stated that only licensed
Churches could legally conduct marriages. These were usually the
Anglican Parish Church. Chapels of Ease, Catholic and most non-conformist
churches were excluded. Only Quakers and Jews were exempt from
this law.
1813
George Rose's Act came into effect it stated that the records
of baptisms and burials were to be kept in separate and pre-printed
books using a standard format.
1834
Growing numbers of paupers and the need to make some provision
for them resulted in The Poor Law Ammendment Act which combined
numbers of parishes into unions for the purpose of poor relief.
It also heralded the coming of the purpose built workhouses. These
were to be built and run on lines of hardship , poor food and
degradation to dissuade any but the most desperate from seeking
to enter. Poor Law Guardians were appointed and were responsible
for collecting the Poor Rate and distributing it to the old, sick
and widows with dependant children, which was known as 'outdoor
relief'. The able-bodied man had to find work or enter the workhouse.
1837
The General Registration Act introduced civil registration and
the responsibility for keeping the records was taken away from
the church. Parish registers were still kept but a Superintendant
Registrar was responsible for maintaining registers of all births,
marriages and deaths (note it is now 'births' not 'baptisms' and
'deaths' not 'burials'). He also had to compile an index to the
entries. At the end of each quarter the registrar was required
to send a copy of all entries to the General Register Office (GRO).
Marriages taking place in the Parish Church (many chapels of ease
were given the status of 'Parish Church' at this time) were conducted
by the minister who kept 2 identical sets of the register; when
they were full one copy was sent to the Superintendant Registrar
and the other kept by the church. Jewish and Quaker marriages
were also allowed to perform marriages in this way.
Marriages could now take place in other churches but, until 1898,
it was the normal practice for the Registrar to supervise the
civil aspects of the ceremony and the entry into the marriage
register.
1841
The first Census that was of any real value to the family historian.
1851
The first census to show relationships to the head of the household.
1858
From very early times all wills had been proved in one of the
ecclesiastical probate courts. (see pre 1538 for details of courts)
From 1858 all wills had to be proved in one of the civil courts
that were established in all major towns and cities. Wherever
post 1858 wills were proved a record of these can be found in
the National Probate Indexes. Letters of Administration are indexed
in the same books. These letter (or Admons) are granted when a
person has left no will or where there is no executor, for whatever
reason (eg. their own death). The indexes will tell you where
the will was proved so that you can apply to the appropriate Local
Register Office for a copy.
Note: wills were only indexed and recorded if they went to 'probate'
and were 'proved'. They are recorded the index at the time of
Probate being granted not the date of a person's death.
1861
census
1871
census
1881
census
1882
Married Woman's Property Act. This act gave married women the
right to make a will without the permission of the husband. Before
this act was passsed a married woman was only allowed to make
a will with her husband's consent. He also had the power to revoke
it at any later date should he wish to do so. A single woman or
a widow had the right to make a will.
1891
census
1901
The most recent Census that is open to public inspection.
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