It’s a question many ask about genealogy. Will I be able to
find all my ancestors and how far back can I go? Some seems to think you can go
back to time immemorial, but can you?
Well unfortunately the answer is no you can’t. The records
only go back so far. But don’t be downhearted as you can get a long way back.
Thomas Cromwell. Image courtesy of ancestryimages.com
Up until 1538 it was more than likely that only people born
into the aristocracy who would have had their baptism, marriage or burial
registered by the family. In 1538 Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII right hand man
decreed that in the new Church of England all baptism, marriages and burials
would be recorded by the parish priest at the local church with copies being
made and sent to the bishop every three months. Thus the parish records came
into being. This system continued until 1837 when the present system of
receiving birth, marriage and death certificates was introduced when Queen
Victoria ascended to the throne. Baptisms, marriages and burial were still
recorded by the church when the events took place, but the official
registration was still required.
So if you’re really lucky you may be able to get back to
1538. But a note of caution is needed. A lot of the records this far back are
really difficult to read and they may be in Latin! This means that not only
with you have to translate the date but also the names. For example it’s not
too bad with my name Sarah as in Latin it’s Sara but some other names are
really different. Walter in Latin is Ualterius and Louisa is Ludovica. Also the
condition of the records may be so bad that when they are viewed they can have
unreadable areas.
Different styles of writing and damaged paper can make
reading records difficult.
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If we consider Dronfield in Derbyshire the records began in
1560 but the church itself was built in the 12th century. So we see
there is a large discrepancy between when the church was built and the records
began. This means you will miss out on so many ancestors, probably
approximately 13 generations at 30 years per generation. Don’t be upset though
as if you think about it up to the present day you can probably go back
approximately 15 generations and 15 is better than nothing as it’s still over
4.5 centuries.
You also have to take into account what information is given
in the parish records. There was no set format for the records, it was what the
vicar or his clerk decided to include. This means it will vary, sometimes
greatly, between the parishes.
For baptisms in most cases you will get the child’s given
name, his parents given names and his father’s surname, so for example the
basic information you may get is:
John son of John and Mary Smith baptised 1 January 1600
You may get lucky and find that the mother’s maiden surname
is included. In the later records you got information such as where the family
lived and the father’s occupation.
Marriage records are the ones that can be most annoying. It
is not uncommon to just find that John Smith married Mary in the parish on a
certain date. This gives so little information. Again the later the records the
better as the woman’s maiden surname was included and perhaps the abodes or
even father’s names and occupations for the couples.
Burial records in general were just the person’s name and
when they were buried, but in some cases the place of death was recorded and
even their age at death. I have even come across some records which stated what
the person died from.
So all this means that just because the records are available
doesn’t necessarily mean they are of any help and so you may not be able back
to the 15 generations. With so little information in the records if your
ancestors moved about you would have difficulty finding them.
But don’t give up hope, half the fun is the search. The old
adage search and ye shall find is the mantra most genealogists adhere to. You
never know what you will find until you look, so look and you may be pleasantly
surprised as to what is available.