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The records of the Church of England in general and the Diocese of Gloucester in particular, are multitudinous as is clearly evident from the above mentioned guides. For the present lecture only the marriage licenses, bishops’ visitations, and monumental inscriptions will be mentioned for the established church.
The records of the Church of England in general and the Diocese of Gloucester in particular, are multitudinous as is clearly evident from the above mentioned guides. For the present lecture only the marriage licenses, bishops’ visitations, and monumental inscriptions will be mentioned for the established church.
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==== Wiki Pages ====
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==== Wiki Pages
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These pages may have more details and links to help: <br>
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These pages may have more details and links to help: <br>
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*[[England Church Records]] <br>
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*[[Ireland Church Records]] <br>
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*[[England Church Records]] <br>
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*[[Scotland Church Records]] <br>
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*[[Ireland Church Records]] <br>
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*[[Scotland Church Records]] <br>
*[[Wales Church Records]]
*[[Wales Church Records]]
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==== FamilySearch.org ====
==== FamilySearch.org ====
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Billions of names across hundreds of collections <br> '''With a name''' <br> Go to [https://www.familysearch.org/search Family Search] <br> '''Without a names''' <br> 1,680
Matches to British Church Records found on 14 July 2013. <br> Go to [https://www.familysearch.org/catalog-search Family Search Catalog]
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Billions of names across hundreds of collections <br> '''With a name''' <br> Go to [https://www.familysearch.org/search Family Search] <br> '''Without a names''' <br> 1,680 Matches to British Church Records found on 14 July 2013. <br> Go to [https://www.familysearch.org/catalog-search Family Search Catalog]
=== Marriage Licenses ===
=== Marriage Licenses ===
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=== Nonconformist Church Records ===
=== Nonconformist Church Records ===
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Approximately 9,000 registers of nonconformist churches are in the Public Record Office (also on microfilm).<sup>4</sup> These registers represent the following churches: Baptist, Bible Christian, Calvinist Methodist, French Protestant and other foreign groups, General Methodist Registry, German Lutheran, Independent (or Congregationalist), Inghamite, Lady Huntingdon’s Connexion, Moravian, New Connexion, Presbyterian (or Unitarian), Primitive Methodist, Scottish Church, Society of Friends, Swedenborgians, Wesleyan, burial records of Leeds, Sheffield, Liverpool, and London; and records of Greenwich, Chelsea, and Foundling hospitals. Roman Catholics and Jews were allowed to retain their records, and they are publishing them through the Catholic Record Society and the Jewish Historical Society of England, respectively. For a concise account of the history and records of Roman Catholic and Protestant nonconformity, see W.B. Stephens’ ''Sources for English Local History'' (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1975) and D.J. Steel’s ''National Index of Parish Registers'', Vol. 5, ''South Midlands and Welsh Border'' (London: Society of Genealogists, 1966).
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Approximately 9,000 registers of nonconformist churches are in the Public Record Office (also on microfilm).<sup>4</sup> These registers represent the following churches: Baptist, Bible Christian, Calvinist Methodist, French Protestant and other foreign groups, General Methodist Registry, German Lutheran, Independent (or Congregationalist), Inghamite, Lady Huntingdon’s Connexion, Moravian, New Connexion, Presbyterian (or Unitarian), Primitive Methodist, Scottish Church, Society of Friends, Swedenborgians, Wesleyan, burial records of Leeds, Sheffield, Liverpool, and London; and records of Greenwich, Chelsea, and Foundling hospitals. Roman Catholics and Jews were allowed to retain their records, and they are publishing them through the Catholic Record Society and the Jewish Historical Society of England, respectively. For a concise account of the history and records of Roman Catholic and Protestant nonconformity, see W.B. Stephens’ ''Sources for English Local History'' (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1975) and D.J. Steel’s ''National Index of Parish Registers'', Vol. 5, ''South Midlands and Welsh Border'' (London: Society of Genealogists, 1966).
== State Records ==
== State Records ==
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Heralds visited the various counties of England between 1530 and 1687 to see that the armigerous gentry were properly registered with the College of Arms. Many of the visitation pedigrees have been printed and are an invaluable source of genealogical information. The list of English counties in Table 1 at the end of this paper indicates the years when visitations were made in each of them.
Heralds visited the various counties of England between 1530 and 1687 to see that the armigerous gentry were properly registered with the College of Arms. Many of the visitation pedigrees have been printed and are an invaluable source of genealogical information. The list of English counties in Table 1 at the end of this paper indicates the years when visitations were made in each of them.
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Land Records
/
Enclosure Awards
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===
https:
/
/www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/results#count=20&query=%2Bkeywords%3ABritish%20%2Bkeywords%3ALand%20%2Bkeywords%3AEnclosure%20%2Bkeywords%3AAwards
===
Enclosure of open fields, moorland, or meadow, considered common land until more recent times, has long been a feature of the English economy. Enclosure means the transfer of title of the common lands to private persons on the basis of previous property ownership in the parish. Land owners were entitled to the common lands on a percentage basis according to how much they already owned in the parish.
Enclosure of open fields, moorland, or meadow, considered common land until more recent times, has long been a feature of the English economy. Enclosure means the transfer of title of the common lands to private persons on the basis of previous property ownership in the parish. Land owners were entitled to the common lands on a percentage basis according to how much they already owned in the parish.
The records include a map and an award. The maps usually cover the whole parish along with the names of owners and occupiers. It is estimated that half of all English parishes experienced enclosures. The records, in triplicate, are in the county record offices, the parish churches, and in London. Affected parishes are listed in Return of Enclosure Acts in ''House of Commons Sessional Papers'', 1914. See also ''Index of Local and Personal Acts 1801-1947''. Documents which are likely to be of most use date from about 1740. Each enclosure document whether rolled or in book form consists of an award that sets out exactly the disposition of all affected common land. Not only farmers and freeholders but the poor and the parson obtained portions. For an annotated list of Gloucestershire enclosure acts and awards, see the ''Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archeological Society'', vol. 65 (1943).
The records include a map and an award. The maps usually cover the whole parish along with the names of owners and occupiers. It is estimated that half of all English parishes experienced enclosures. The records, in triplicate, are in the county record offices, the parish churches, and in London. Affected parishes are listed in Return of Enclosure Acts in ''House of Commons Sessional Papers'', 1914. See also ''Index of Local and Personal Acts 1801-1947''. Documents which are likely to be of most use date from about 1740. Each enclosure document whether rolled or in book form consists of an award that sets out exactly the disposition of all affected common land. Not only farmers and freeholders but the poor and the parson obtained portions. For an annotated list of Gloucestershire enclosure acts and awards, see the ''Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archeological Society'', vol. 65 (1943).
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Further information may be found in:
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==== Wiki Pages ====
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==== Family Search ====
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*[https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/1612020?availability=Family%20History%20Library List of House of Commons sessional papers 1701-1750] <br>
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*[https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/results#count=20&query=%2Bkeywords%3ABritish%20%2Bkeywords%3ALand%20%2Bkeywords%3AEnclosure%20%2Bkeywords%3AAwards British Land Enclosure Awards]
=== Feet of Fines ===
=== Feet of Fines ===
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*[[England Military Records]]
*[[England Military Records]]
*[[Scotland Military Records]]
*[[Scotland Military Records]]
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*[[Ireland Military Records]]
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*[[Ireland Military Records]]
*[[Wales Military Records]]
*[[Wales Military Records]]
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=== Justices of the Peace and Quarter Sessions ===
=== Justices of the Peace and Quarter Sessions ===
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Before the creation of county councils by the Local Government Act of 1888, local administration was largely in the hands of the justices of the peace or under their supervision. Originally commissioned in the Middle Ages as “keepers of the king’s peace” in the counties, the justices had been given certain administrative functions in addition to their purely judicial work as early as the fourteenth century. The Tudor sovereigns, with an eye to economy as well as practical convenience, employed the unpaid county justice increasingly in carrying out their system of government and enforcing their numerous statutes. In particular, justices of the peace were charged with the superintendence of the parish officers established by sixteenth-century legislation, the overseers of the poor and the surveyors of the highways. They were also commonly called upon to appoint and supervise that ancient manorial officer, the petty constable or
tithingman
. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, new statutes were continually adding to the justices’ duties, though reforms in poor law and highway administration in 1834 and 1862 transferred some of their burdens to new bodies, the Guardians of the Poor and the Highway Boards, and in 1877 the state relieved them of responsibility for prisons.
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Before the creation of county councils by the Local Government Act of 1888, local administration was largely in the hands of the justices of the peace or under their supervision. Originally commissioned in the Middle Ages as “keepers of the king’s peace” in the counties, the justices had been given certain administrative functions in addition to their purely judicial work as early as the fourteenth century. The Tudor sovereigns, with an eye to economy as well as practical convenience, employed the unpaid county justice increasingly in carrying out their system of government and enforcing their numerous statutes. In particular, justices of the peace were charged with the superintendence of the parish officers established by sixteenth-century legislation, the overseers of the poor and the surveyors of the highways. They were also commonly called upon to appoint and supervise that ancient manorial officer, the petty constable or
tithing man
. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, new statutes were continually adding to the justices’ duties, though reforms in poor law and highway administration in 1834 and 1862 transferred some of their burdens to new bodies, the Guardians of the Poor and the Highway Boards, and in 1877 the state relieved them of responsibility for prisons.
Their judicial work, the hearing and judgment of local felonies and trespasses, has continued without substantial modification to the present day. After about 1600 they usually referred capital offenses to the assizes, but on the other hand the gradual decay of manorial courts in the seventeenth century meant that eventually all minor crimes and misdemeanors had to come before justices of the peace. The justices used their powers individually (so far as they were allowed), or jointly with one or more colleagues as Petty Sessions. There were also, as time went on, special sessions for the licensing of alehouses and other purposes. Their most important functions, however, were exercised, as they still are, at the General Sessions of the peace, held four times a year (at Epiphany, Easter, Trinity, and Michaelmas), since about 1350 or earlier. At these courts, known as Quarter Sessions, those justices who attended – never more than a minority – sat as a court to hear and determine cases, both criminal and civil, which were outside the scope of a single justice’s authority. Procedure resembled that of the assizes. The high sheriff was responsible for summoning a grand jury (which decided whether the initial evidence justified a trial), and also for summoning qualified persons to provide the petty juries for trying issues of fact in criminal cases. All authority of the justices was of a judicial nature, and much business which we should now regard as purely administrative had to be handled by judicial procedure (e.g., highway in disrepair was “presented” as such in court, and a fine imposed on the inhabitants of the parish responsible to enable repairs to be carried out.
Their judicial work, the hearing and judgment of local felonies and trespasses, has continued without substantial modification to the present day. After about 1600 they usually referred capital offenses to the assizes, but on the other hand the gradual decay of manorial courts in the seventeenth century meant that eventually all minor crimes and misdemeanors had to come before justices of the peace. The justices used their powers individually (so far as they were allowed), or jointly with one or more colleagues as Petty Sessions. There were also, as time went on, special sessions for the licensing of alehouses and other purposes. Their most important functions, however, were exercised, as they still are, at the General Sessions of the peace, held four times a year (at Epiphany, Easter, Trinity, and Michaelmas), since about 1350 or earlier. At these courts, known as Quarter Sessions, those justices who attended – never more than a minority – sat as a court to hear and determine cases, both criminal and civil, which were outside the scope of a single justice’s authority. Procedure resembled that of the assizes. The high sheriff was responsible for summoning a grand jury (which decided whether the initial evidence justified a trial), and also for summoning qualified persons to provide the petty juries for trying issues of fact in criminal cases. All authority of the justices was of a judicial nature, and much business which we should now regard as purely administrative had to be handled by judicial procedure (e.g., highway in disrepair was “presented” as such in court, and a fine imposed on the inhabitants of the parish responsible to enable repairs to be carried out.
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=== Apprenticeship ===
=== Apprenticeship ===
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The word Apprenticeship means learning of a trade. This was mainly done with a young person who was placed with and formally bound to a master. Apprenticeships have roots going back into medieval times. By the 16th century it was generally accepted as a means of providing technical training to boys and a very few girls in a wide range of occupations. [[Apprenticeship in England|Apprentices]] usually served [[England Apprenticeship Indentures 1710 to 1811|indentureships]] of either five or seven years. A document called an [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indenture indenture] was signed by the master and the apprentice’s parents or other legal guardian. A national register was established in 1710 for the purpose of registering all apprentices except those apprenticed by the overseers of the parish and those who were paid less than a shilling for their indenture (which usually meant those who were apprenticed to a relative for a token amount of kindness). The national registers are in the Public Records Office, but an index covering the years 1710 to 1774 is in the Society of Genealogists and a microfilm copy is in the Genealogical Society of Utah Library. The registers in the Public Record Office continue to 1810. Apprenticeship records prior to 1710 exist for many provincial towns, and records also exist for the two missing categories of apprentices in the national registers. They are in the custody of parishes and local record offices.
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The word Apprenticeship means learning of a trade. This was mainly done with a young person who was placed with and formally bound to a master. Apprenticeships have roots going back into medieval times. By the 16th century it was generally accepted as a means of providing technical training to boys and a very few girls in a wide range of occupations. [[Apprenticeship in England|Apprentices]] usually served [[England Apprenticeship Indentures 1710 to 1811|indentureships]] of either five or seven years. A document called an [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indenture indenture] was signed by the master and the apprentice’s parents or other legal guardian. A national register was established in 1710 for the purpose of registering all apprentices except those apprenticed by the overseers of the parish and those who were paid less than a shilling for their indenture (which usually meant those who were apprenticed to a relative for a token amount of kindness). The national registers are in the Public Records Office, but an index covering the years 1710 to 1774 is in the Society of Genealogists and a microfilm copy is in the Genealogical Society of Utah Library. The registers in the Public Record Office continue to 1810. Apprenticeship records prior to 1710 exist for many provincial towns, and records also exist for the two missing categories of apprentices in the national registers. They are in the custody of parishes and local record offices.
== Private Records ==
== Private Records ==