COLLECTIONS GUIDE 1 Parish Registers Contacting Us What are parish registers? We recommend that you contact Prior to 1837, there was no system for recording births and deaths. us to book a place before visiting The main sources of information about individuals are church our searchrooms. registers of baptism, marriage and burial. These are organised by church, and are known as ‘parish registers’. WYAS Bradford Margaret McMillan Tower Parish registers were first introduced in 1538, but very few survive Prince’s Way from this date. In 1598, parishes were ordered to keep their registers Bradford in parchment books instead of paper. Earlier entries were supposed BD1 1NN to be copied into the new books. But many parishes started Telephone +44 (0)113 393 9785 only at the year 1558, the year Queen Elizabeth I came to the throne. e.
[email protected] WYAS Calderdale What is a parish? Central Library Northgate House A parish is the area served by a clergyman of the Church of England. Northgate Until 1929, the church parish was also a unit of civil administration. Halifax Today the civil parish is still the smallest unit of local government. But HX1 1UN the boundaries of modern civil and church parishes are Telephone +44 (0)1422 392636 not always the same. A civil parish may include several church e.
[email protected] parishes, or only part of one. WYAS Kirklees Central Library When the parishes were created, the population in Yorkshire was Princess Alexandra Walk very much smaller than it is today. One parish church often served Huddersfield several villages or townships.