After a tricky couple of years digitisation is largely returning to normal. There are new county-wide collections and tranches of data to celebrate, and some exciting material on the horizon. For each region you’ll find one main highlight, together with some of the other subscription or pay-to-view collections available, plus unmissable free resources.
Many other sources can help you find a parish register entry, from civil registrations to newspaper notices. This time last year, WDYTYA? Magazine reader Jill Wright wrote to us with her top tip: just search the web for the name of a parish to see what resources turn up. Jill has transcribed all of the parish records for the village of Mulbarton in Norfolk, which, along with memorial inscriptions and other data, can be seen via mulbartonhistory.org.uk/links-/. Two neighbouring villages also have records online at bracon-ash-and-hethel-history.webnode.com/links-/, and yet another nearby village, Wreningham, has all of its. transcripts from the censuses of 1841-1911 at tinyurl.com/wren-census, with parish registers about to be added. So if you’re stuck, remember to go local!
LONDON AND MIDDLESEX
Registers from the capital as well as the county of Middlesex
Searching for parish records in the capita Lean sometimes be a challenge. The City of London has over 100 parishes, there’s a huge number in Middlesex, and many London parishes were once part of historic counties such as Essex and Kent.
Finding aids including Boyd’s London Burials Index, which lists adult males from many registers in London before 1837, and the City of London Burials Indexare available to members of the Society of Genealogists () or Findmypast (). The latter also retains indexed transcriptions of Westminster registers, as well as London data drawn from West Middlesex Family History Society material. The site has recently expanded its Middlesex numbers with a further 43,351 baptisms).
