Parish Registers
Last updated: 27/11/2009
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Parish Registers
Registers of baptisms, marriages and
burials constitute the main source of family history before 1837.
There are 257 parishes in Cornwall, of which nearly all have either
deposited registers at Cornwall Record
Office or allowed them to be filmed: most of these are now
produced to the public in microfiche form. Dates held cover 1538 -
current century Registers not deposited remain in the parish
churches.
The Cornwall Family History Society
holds parish register transcripts.
The Courtney Library
(Royal Institution of Cornwall) holds parish register transcripts ,
but with a variable coverage. The Library produces a list of
holdings.
Bishop's Transcripts
These are contemporary copies of parish
registers. Cornwall Record Office has originals or microfiche of
all surviving Cornish bishop's transcripts. Dates held are often
covering dates, with years missing and large gaps in many
cases.
The Cornwall Centre
(Kresenn Kernow) holds copies of the Bishop's Transcripts on
microfilm for the majority of parishes in Cornwall. Most date from
the mid-sixteenth century to approximately 1670/80, from 1737-1740
and from 1773-1812. The Library produces a list of holdings.
Other Registers
In the nineteenth century most of the
population of Cornwall attended Methodist chapels. The Cornwall
Record Office hold over 500 registers for various Methodist
denominations and circuits. The Society of Friends records and
certain Baptist and Congregational registers have also been
deposited. Fowey Library has transcriptions of the Fowey
Congregational Church Baptisms and Marriages, 1950-1970.
The following links will take you to
pages listing the parish register transcriptions held at the
Cornwall Centre.