How to perform a search

At least the first three characters of the "Surname" field are required.
If the "soundex" option is selected, a phonetic (soundex) search is performed with the "Surname" field.
All other text fields are optional.

Wild card searches

The search engine matches any record which begins with the characters entered. For example, if just "j" is entered in the "forename" field, the search will match records with forenames such as "John", "Jane", "James", etc.
With all fields except for the "Surname" field, the wild card character "_" can be used which will match against any character in the character position. For example, "j_n", matches with "Jane", "Jenefer", etc.

Fields Used in Searches

	Baptism	Banns	Burial	Marriage	Witness
Forename	X	X	X	X	X
Surname	X	X	X	X	X
Soundex	X	X	X	X
Sex	X	X		X
Father Forename	X			P
Mother Forename	X
Spouse Forename		X		X
Spouse Surname		X		X
Start Year	X	X	X	X	X
End Year	X	X	X	X	X
Event	X	X	X	X	X
Parish	X	X	X	X	X

X = Used
P = Used only with post 1837 Marriages

Historical Parish Register Entry Formats

Parish registers are hand written records kept by the parish to record religious events, including marriages, baptisms, burials, confirmations, banns declarations, etc. In 1837, secular records became to be kept of births, deaths, and marriages. Parish registers began in 1538 when Henry VIII split from the the Roman Catholic church forming the Church of England. In 1754, printed registers were supplied to record marriages and in 1812, printed registers were supplied for baptisms and burials.

The format and the amount of information associated with parish register entries varied through time. The following is an overview of how these register entries have changed. The record keeping of non-conformist denominations also varied.

Example Baptism Records
Example Burial Records
Example Marriage Records
After 1837, Birth, Death and Marriage Certificates were issued.