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From: Anne Peat <>
Subject: Re: [Lon] Records for Catholic Churches
Date: Tue, 10 May 2005 08:33:07 +0100
References: <uHxd3ZAOn9fCFw+9@varneys.demon.co.uk>
In-Reply-To: <uHxd3ZAOn9fCFw+9@varneys.demon.co.uk>


Before we have a dig at the clergy - Anglican or Catholic - perhaps it
would be good to remind ourselves of certain facts:
1. Most clergy in the UK now work on their own, without the hordes of
curates that they once had to assist them, or the offices, secretaries
and administrators that are common, for instance in the USA.
2. They are employed to give spiritual and pastoral care to their
parishioners, to administer their parish ( or parishes in the case of
many Anglican clergy) and to try to maintain their buildings. Providing
help to family historians therefore comes very low on their lists of
priorities.
3. As Eve hinted, most Anglican registers are no longer in the
parishes. Once they are full, the rules say they have to be deposited
at the County Record Office. So it is a waste of time, often, writing
to them for information. Even if they had the time to look through all
the records on your behalf, the records are somewhere else.
4. For family historians, these may be records of names and dates. For
clergy they are records of the administration of a sacrament, so
precious, personal and private.
5. In my experience, parishes try to help when they can. But often the
rudeness and lack of response comes from the enquirer, rather than the
parish.
It works both ways!
Anne


On 9 May 2005, at 23:04, Sharon wrote:
Same here, via email. Makes you wonder why people have
email addresses if they can't be bothered answering
their mail.

Sharon
--- Bob Cunning <> wrote:
> I wrote a total of 5 letters to one Anglican minister
> over the space of a
> year. No reply to any of them and none were
> returned. I hope he treats his
> parishoners better

> In message <>, LeChet
> <> writes
>> Hi All
>>
>> I asked this question several weeks ago, and after writing to the
>> parish
>> priest of the English Martyrs Church, I received a disappointing
>> reply.
>>
>> He will not allow anyone access to the parish records for the
>> following
>> reasons:
>>
>> 1) Privacy of the individuals involved (over 100 years ago?)
>> 2) The volume of requests he has received in recent times.
>
>> Church with regard to such records?

On 9 May 2005, at 22:44, Eve McLaughlin wrote:

> There are rules about access to CofE registers, but none for Catholic
> ones. But pull rank and write a letter to his Bishop, more in sorrow
> than in anger.
>>
>

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