Worcestershire, England, Church of England Deaths and Burials, 1813-1997

General collection information

This collection contains images of transcripts created for Anglican Bishops, of Church of England parish registers of deaths and burials between the years of 1813 and 1997 from the historical county of Worcestershire, England.

Before civil registration began in 1837, key events in a person's life were typically recorded by the church, rather than the government. Parish records were the first sets of vital records kept. They date back to the 16th century and are some of the longest running records available. Churchwardens were compelled to send transcripts of all baptisms, marriages and burials for the previous year to the Church of England Bishops and these are known as Bishop Transcripts.

Using this collection

This collection may include the following details:

These records were taken by church officials to mark important milestones in people's lives. This makes them excellent resources for tracing family roots. They often include information about other family members such as parents, which makes it easy to go back a generation in your family tree with a single record.

History of the collection

When Henry VIII established the Church of England, he mandated parishes to keep handwritten records of baptisms, marriages, and burials. Beginning in 1598, clergy were required to send copies of their parish registers to the bishop of their diocese. These copies are known as Bishop's Transcripts and are useful in cases where original records are unreadable or no longer exist.

In 1812, George Rose's Act called for pre-printed registers to be used for separate baptism, marriage, and burial registers as a way of standardising records.