Author(s): Cecil R. Humphrey-Smith

Reference

Parish registers are an extremely important but widely scattered archive. They are essential to the family historian and provide the only written record of numerous ancestors. This guide to parish registers covers England, Scotland and Wales and is a vital time-saving tool that will quickly become any genealogist's bible. The atlas includes county parish maps which show pre-1882 parochial boundaries, color-coded probate jurisdictions, starting dates of surviving registers, as well as churches and chapels. Topographical maps face each parish map and show the contemporary road system and other local features. A helpful index lists all parishes with grid references to the county maps, and provides registration districts and census information. It also indicates the present whereabouts of original registers and copies, and whether a parish is included in other indexes.