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LICHFIELD DIOCESE.
VOL. III.

GENERAL EDITOR:
W.P.W. PHILLIMORE, M.A., B.C.L.

PRIVATELY PRINTED FOR THE
SHROPSHIRE PARISH REGISTER SOCIETY.
1901.

Note for the Reader.

WITH the present is completed the third volume of Registers for Lichfield Diocese.

The desire of the Council has been to evoke a general interest in the work by printing registers in different parts of the county, and with this object a diocesan arrangement of the volumes was adopted on the suggestion of the Chairman of Council ; though as each parish is also given its own separate pagination, it is open to members to arrange the registers in any mode, local or alphabetical, which happens to appeal to their personal convenience. This, moreover, is facilitated by the separate parish indexes, from which hereafter it may be hoped there will be compiled one general index of names for the whole county.

The registers in the present volume are all printed from their commencement down to the year 1812, which seems a convenient stopping-point, as then was inaugurated a new system of registration by what is known as Rose's Act, which lasted only till 1837, when our present mode of registration of births, deaths, and marriages was adopted. It may be convenient here to add the following facts in the history of parish registers :—

Thomas Cromwell, the Vicar General, issued the order for keeping parish registers on 29th September, 1538.

Injunctions to this end repeated 1552 and 1558.

Cardinal Pole required the names of sponsors to be added to the registers of baptisms, 1555.

vi NOTE FOR THE READER.

The registers were directed to be transcribed anew on parchment, copies now known as "Bishops' Transcripts" to be sent to the Bishops ; 25th October, 1597.

These regulations embodied in the 70th Canon in 1603.

The "Directory" orders births as well as baptisms to be entered, 1645.

The Commonwealth directed "parish registers" to be appointed, 22nd September, 1653.

Civil marriage was instituted 29th September, 1654.

These civil marriages were legalized by Act of 12 Car. II, c. 33, in 1660.

Act compelling burial in woollen, 18 Car. II, 1667.

Act requiring an affidavit of burial in woollen to be entered, 30 Car. II, 1678.

Duties on the registration of births, marriages, and burials, imposed for five years, 1694 to 1698, 6 Will. III.

Lord Hardwicke's Marriage Act took effect 25th March, 1754.

Duty of 3d. on every entry in a register, imposed by 23 Geo. III, C. 71, 1783.

And repealed 34. Geo. III, c. 11, 1794.

Rose's Act, 52 Geo. III, c. 146, took effect 1st January, 1813.

Civil registration commenced 1st July, 1837.

It may be well to remind the reader of the "double date."

Up to the time of the reform of the calendar in 1754, the civil year commenced on 25th March, while the historical year, as now, began on 1st January. Consequently the period from 1st January to 25th March was in two years. Thus, the 1st February, 1732, according to the civil year, was the 1st February, 1733, according to our (historical) reckoning, and it is often written 1st February, 1732-3, or 1732/3, the last being the historical one. In parish registers the civil reckoning was usually adopted, and this must be remembered when dealing with entries from 1st January to 25th March, before the year 1754.

NOTE FOR THE READER. vii

It will be well to add that the letter "p" or "pauper" occurring in registers against some entries in the period 1783-96, merely indicates that they were exempted from payment of the tax then levied on register entries.

The Council decided that no really useful purpose was served by printing the registers verbatim et literatim, but that valuable space would be filled and progress delayed. Accordingly, mere verbiage has been omitted, and the following abbreviations freely adopted, save when there seemed to be any special reason for giving the entries exactly as they stand:-

A capital letter after "of" or "p." denotes the parish whose particular Register is being printed (thus "of A." = of Albrighton).

Thanks are due to the clergy, the custodians of the respective registers, for leave to print them, and for facilities afforded in transcription. Their names are mentioned in the respective registers.

It is requisite to specially acknowledge the services in transcription and collation of the Rev. Thomas Priestley, the Rev. J.E. Auden, Miss Isaac, Miss Auden, and Miss Helen Briscoe.

May, 1901. W.P.W.P.

INDEXES.

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