Help finding Parish Records

Post by **Anonymous** » 06 Jan 2007 15:21

Can anyone give me some pointers in finding out which parish registers I need and where ?

I'm just coming to research pre 1837 so have run out of Census and civil registry BMD and getting confused with what to search and where from now on.

My main parish areas are Trelleck/Trellech (Wales) and Bedminster (Bishport) in Bristol. I can only find reference to Trelleck stuff in the Welsh National Library in Aberystwyth and nothing at all on line or CD. Do I really have to take a holiday to North Wales to get any further with this line or have I just not discovered something ?

Bedminster seems to pose another problem ... being on the edge of Bristol it seems hard to work out when and where it is Somerset vs Gloucestershire vs Bristol county. I would have thought Bristol being fairly large would have loads of stuff but I can't seem to find any parish records mentioning Bedminster or Bishport available anywhere. Am I looking in the wrong places ?

ID:2079

YouTube · Post by **Jane** » 06 Jan 2007 15:28

With the exception of counties like Dorset and Devon who have Online Parish Clerks (OPC) projects, most other data needed to be visited for. If you are lucky you may find some data at

http://www.familyhistoryonline.net/

which contains some of the data in electronic format available from various family history societies.

For Bedminster you could try the Bristol and Avon Society http://www.bafhs.org.uk/

http://www.rootschat.com have area specific forums so I would be worth a question there for each area you are interested in. As pre 1837 things tend to be different for each area.

Post by **Anonymous** » 06 Jan 2007 16:24

Brilliant! Thanks Jane!

It looks like familyhistoryonline have some stuff and I'm signing up for RootsChat so fingers crossed!

Many thanks for your help

pwe · Post by **pwe** » 06 Jan 2007 18:45

Most parish records are now kept by the relevant County Record office. It is always worth phoning before a visit to make sure that the office has the records you are wanting.
Peter E

Post by **NickWalker** » 06 Jan 2007 21:12

You can also view parish records at your local LDS family history centres. I've never done this though I have been thinking about doing so, perhaps someone who has used this service could comment. You don't have to be a member of the church and apparently you can order microfilmed parish records to be sent to your local centre. Some details here:

LDS Family History Centres

TimTreeby · Post by **TimTreeby** » 07 Jan 2007 12:09

If you look on genuki for the parish of Trelleck

http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/wal/MON/Tr ... index.html

you will see that there is a link to an online transcription for a lot of parishes in Monmouthshire including Trelleck. And according to Genuki PR for Bedminster are held at Somerset Rcord Office.

smol · Post by **smol** » 07 Jan 2007 13:29

I regularly use my local LDS center in order to view P.Records + other data.
It costs about £2.70 for a month (though you can have longer) and the films come usually in 2/3 weeks.
Check out the Family History Library Catalogue on Fam Search Web site. Enter into 'Place' name of town /parish in which you are interested - list of available data is shown. You need the Film No to order the required film, which you do through the LDS centre.
LDS centres vary in size and you may have to book a film/fiche reader in advance.
Hope this helps
smol

philjo · Post by **philjo** » 08 Jan 2007 13:35

Anonymous,

You don't say where you live. If you are able to visit London, the Society of Genealogists library does have some transcripts of registers for Trelleck:

[Book] TRELLECK (St. Nicholas) : C 1696, 1725-1808 (BTs), M 1696, 1725-1800 (BTs), B 1696-97, 1725-1800 (BTs): Monmouthshire bishop's transcripts, vol. 3 [Typescript.]

[Book] TRELLECK (St. Nicholas) : CB 1763-1900, M 1773-1900; list of churchwardens 1763-89: Monmouthshire registers, vol. 4 [Typescript.]

[Book]TRELLECK (St. Nicholas) : CMB 1725-65 : Monmouthshire bishop's transcripts vol. 10

[Book] TRELLECK (St. Nicholas) : MIs: Gwent monumental inscriptions, vol. 12 [Typescript] Published , 1989

You can search their online catalogue at: http://www.sog.org.uk/

Jeremy

Post by **Anonymous** » 10 Jan 2007 06:37

Many thanks for everyone for all your information!

I'm based in Bristol so SoG in London is a possibility but not particularly easy to visit.

The Trellech records listed by GenUKI link (to RootsWeb) are only 'selected' records so it looks like I need to go to the NLW in Aberystwyth after all (LDS/FamilySearch seems not to cover Monmouthshire)

The Somerset record office is (frustratingly) in Taunton but I've been told by someone else that Bristol Records Office might be able to help so I'll try there first since its local.

Thanks again for all your help [smile]

helend · Post by **helend** » 31 Mar 2007 09:08

I'd be grateful for a clarification on using the LDS Family History Centres. As you can only order the FHS microfiches, not other PR microfiches, does it generalise to mean that if you can find the person/parish in the IGI online index you would be able to request the relevant records to view there, but otherwise not?

smol · Post by **smol** » 01 Apr 2007 13:46

Helen
I'm not sure what you mean but if the LDS have filmed the parish info you want then you can order the film /fiche.
They have filmed far more than is available on the IGI. The basic details of baptisms & marriages feature on the IGI but burial registers, cemetery records etc in some cases have been filmed and are available.
Check the Family History Library catalogue.
If someone appears in the index and you want to check their details by looking at the film, make sure that the entry has a batch number/film number, showing it is from a film and not a private entry. Many baptisms & marriages have been added by LDS members (their own research not original material) which should be treated with care.
smol

zblodnik1 · Post by **zblodnik1** » 06 Apr 2007 22:28

i am having problems finding parish records,as i don't live in the county where my ancestors were born,so i can't go to a records office,so how do i get these records

YouTube · Post by **Jane** » 07 Apr 2007 10:14

For Parish records out of your area, you can try the LDS or asking on the Rootsweb Mailing list for that area.

Some counties also have OPC online parish clerks, who are doing one place studies.

For example Dorset OPC
http://www.dorset-opc.com/

zblodnik1 · Post by **zblodnik1** » 07 Apr 2007 11:37

Jane
thank you very much for the information,you gave me on looking for parish records,

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