Church of England parish records are the single most important source of information about families in England and Wales in the 17th and 18th centuries. They continue to this day, of course, although since civil registration began in 1837 they have been superseded somewhat. They began way back in 1538, although many were halted (or kept in secret) during the English Civil War. In practice most surviving records date from the 17th century onwards. Until the early 19th century there were 11,000 parishes – there are now around 16,000, mainly reflecting urban growth from Victorian times onward.

The drawback is that the registers can often be very brief. Vicars could be slapdash in keeping details, so you may only get the name of a person (often abbreviated) and the date, and not even the parents for a birth record – but then again, sometimes the vicar would go the extra mile and make personal remarks about the individuals!

In general though, baptism records will give you the parents’ first names and the father’s occupation; marriage registers show both spouses’ names, previous marital status and parish of residence; and burial registers will give you the person’s age and residence.

Copies of parish records can most easily be found in your local record office, and there are growing collections online, TheGenealogist is continually adding more transcripts from around the country.