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Archiver > CHESHIRE > 1998-11 > 0910105492


From: Helen Parsonage <>
Subject: [CHESHIRE-L] FHC Catalog(ue). Part The Second
Date: Tue, 3 Nov 1998 10:04:52 -0500


In which our intrepid hero moves on to the dreaded church records in the
Family History Library Catalog at the local Family History Center.

CHURCH RECORDS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

OK, lets pickup where we left off last time. You've gone through the
various selections and are now looking at the list of topics for Prestbury
(or wherever), Cheshire.

Two of the items you almost always see are:
Church records and
Church records - indexes.
For reasons I'll come back to in a moment, church indexes are not the
godsend (sorry!) they appear. And this isn't the place for a lengthy
dissertation on the kinds of church records available - just how to find
what you want when you know what you want : - )

Most places have quite a few records under church records, so select it and
hit F8 to see them all. Use the 'page down' button to move through the
records. These are, in general, the kinds you will find:
1. Chapelries. Chapels were basically satellite churches to the parish
church, created to deal with overcrowding or distance. Most date from the
1800s, but some are earlier. They are Church of England. Unless I have good
reason to order one of these I usually wait unitl I've searched the main
registers first.
2. Parish registers. Not found for Cheshire parishes very often,
unfortunately, but this is what you want if it's there. Usually you you
will find Bishop's Transcripts, which were copies made annually for the
bishop! Look for the phrase 'microfilmed from original....'
3. Non-conformist registers. Cover anything not Church of England. Look
here if you know they are in this place - but aren't in the parish
registers - or you know from other sources that they were noncons.

Within each of these categories you will find various forms of the records:
1. Originals. Self-explanatory. Advantages are that you are not relying on
someone else's reading or transcribing. Disadvantages are illegibility, may
be in Latin, handwriting problems etc. I almost always go for these.
2. Transcripts and extracts. Advantages are legibility, may be indexed.
Disadvantages are transcription errors and omissions.
3. LDS printouts. Watch for these!! Many new researchers think they are
getting transcripts of the parish register and order these in error. These
are computer printouts of the IGI entries for that parish. That's all, no
more, no less. These are also found under the topic 'Church Indexes', which
is why I said they are not what you might hope.

Miscellania
~~~~~~~~~~
There are a few odd items of information you might find helpful:
1. Church records sometimes include such treasures as Church wardens
accounts and rate books. *Always* interesting and worth a look.
2. You may be lucky to find Monumental Inscriptions (also catalogued under
the topic "Cemeteries")
3. When you find a record that interests you hit F2, then select 'Print
Record' to get a paper copy to take with you.

That's basically it for finding church records. Any questions?

Like all things connected to computers, showing and doing would be much
easier than trying to describe in writing - but I hope you can follow this
when you sit down at your local FHC.

Helen

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