Cecil
R. Humphery-Smith, ed.
The Phillimore Atlas & Index of Parish
Registers,
3rd Edition.
Chichester:
Phillimore, 2003.
314pp, illustrated.
Hardback
ISBN 1860772390.
Publisher's
recommended price £50.00
Parish
registers
are a vast, important but widely scattered archive. They are essential
to the family historian, providing the only written record of the vast
majority of our ancestors who left but three brief mentions - a
baptism,
a marriage and a burial.
This
guide to
parish registers, now in its third edition, and covering England,
Scotland
and Wales, is a vital, time-saving tool that has become universally
known
as 'the genealogist's bible'.
The
Atlas includes
the famous county 'parish' maps, which show pre-1832 parochial
boundaries,
colour-coded probate jurisdictions, starting dates of surviving
registers,
and churches and chapels, where relevant. Topographical maps face each
'parish' map, and show the contemporary road system and other local
features,
to help deduce the likely movement of people beyond the searcher's
starting
point. The Index lists the parishes, with grid references to the county
maps. It indicates the present whereabouts of original registers and
copies,
and whether a parish is included in other indexes. It also gives
registration
districts and census information. Thus, in this invaluable guide, the
user
may quickly find answers to such questions as: Have the registers
been deposited? Where may they be found? What outside dates do they
cover?
Have they been copied or indexed and by whom?
The
main improvements
in the 3rd edition are:
The
Atlas
has
been digitised, and is therefore much better printed.
The
Index
has been updated to 2003 (from 1994).
The
Index
has 'lost' two columns of obscure indexes, in place of which we now
include
details of census indexes and registration districts
|
|