Key To The Ancient Parish Registers Of England & Wales

Every parish must have a history, every parish has a register, every person has a parish.--Stubbs. N UMEROUS causes, and none more than the Civil War and the usurpation of Oliver Cromwell, have combined to render incomplete the series of Parochial Registers but still, despite their many deficiencies, they are invaluable to the family historian for the clues they afford and it is much to be regretted that so little has been done by the Legislature to secure the safe custody of these national records, which, it should be pointed out to those unacquainted with the subject, remain to this day in the hands of the local clergy. It may be readily admitted that many incumbents guard and cherish their Registers with loving care and scrupulous attention, and many of them, indeed, have been at the pains to restore them most admirably but other Registers have not been so fortunate B