parish registers

[lynda bolton]

What is the best site for parish register research please? Free if possible please as I have spent a fortune on various sites already.:)

[Jan1954]

Lynda,

The best free one is the IGI. Try googling the words Hugh Wallis and you should get through to his website, where you can search by parish. Not complete and just has baptisms and marriages, but a good place to start.

Failing that, you may wish to put the odd look-up request on the appropriate board.

However, if they are all from one place, it may be worth you investing in either CDs or fiches, which may be available here: http://www.parishchest.com/ Click on Parish Registers.

[Jolly Roger]

Which countries do you want to search, if it is Northumberland and Durham the Bishops Transcripts on Family search. labs is the best one but remember they're are not all on line, so a visit to Durham RO is the only way to look at them all.

Jolly Roger

[sally]

Hi Lynda

Freereg are particularly good for Norfolk http://freereg.rootsweb.com/ as well as some other Counties

Some Record Offices sell Parish Registers on microfiche also some Family History Societies.

If you post the Counties you are interested in then you may get a reply on each area.

Regards
Sally

[suedent]

For Durham specific records, Durham Records Online is very good, it's free to search but to look at the details it does cost. Probably best if you know exactly what you are looking for.

For Sunderland there are many parish registers & all the censuses on film in the Local Studies section of Sunderland City Library and Art Gallery. There are also census indexes & register indexes in book form as well as Trade Directories, Electoral Rolls etc.

The library is only a couple of minutes walk away from the Registrar's Office, nicely placed for anyone on a research trip.

[Alan Welsford]

It's worth noting that some family history societies will supply a complete fully searchable transcript of the registers for a parish on CD for about the cost of a single GRO certificate, (often less if it's a small parish).

I know which I think represents the better value! ;)

[suedent]

Northumberland & Durham FHS

They also have a link to Ancestral Indexes who are a great resource for anyone researching NE families. Ancestral Indexes' products can be bought via Parish Chest, I have a few of their products & they are very good value for money.

[lynda bolton]

Thankyou everybody for your help. I hope to find something from them soon.