Series A, No. 50

THE SOCIAL, ECONOMIC, RELIGIOUS, AND HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF ENGLAND

AS IT AFFECTS GENEALOGICAL RESEARCH

Most anyone who has done genealogical research will agree that in order to solve a particular pedigree problem and extend that pedigree, a genealogist or family historian must have a good working knowledge of the types of records available for the relevant time period and locality.

It is also essential to know where records can be obtained, and the types and amount of information they are likely to contain. Even so, before research is carried out, a great deal of background work should be completed.

A genealogist must also be familiar with the social, economic, religious, and historical background of the area in which the research is to be carried out. Such knowledge will alert the researcher to the migration of the people, reasons for their comings and goings, and the effect that social, economic, religious, and historical conditions had on both the compilation and preservation of records.

There are many events which took place on a local basis which affected the movements of ancestors and the types of records that should have been kept, but were not kept, or were badly kept. A study of those specific events should be carried out. However, this paper will deal with these events on a more general, national basis. This information will, hopefully, create an awareness of the possible movement of ancestors and the circumstances regarding the recording of events in the lives of those ancestors.

The events listed here have been arranged in chronological order so that once a particular pedigree objective has been determined in a given period of time, the researcher can refer back to the information within the paper which is pertinent to that period of time.

One of the steps that must be taken in doing research -- and this is sometimes difficult -- is to go back in time and view the conditions under which an ancestor lived. It must be remembered when doing research in the 1600's, for example, that the people and the conditions under which they lived were different in many respects from those which surround us today. In the 17th century, when many basic records begin, England was mainly agricultural, with very few large towns. Villages were almost self-sufficient and only a few commodities from outside were needed. As time passed, however, more and more rural dwellers were attracted to the growing towns, and later centuries saw an increase in the population of each town as well as an increase in the number of towns.

Tracing ancestors in England is difficult enough because of the loss of many early records, for reasons which are explained by events listed below. For that reason, a genealogist must learn to find ways around the roadblocks. By becoming aware of the historical development and background, and by learning to use both imagination and ingenuity, a researcher can be successful in extending difficult pedigrees.

Generally, individuals living in England were free to come and go as they pleased, apart from certain restrictions imposed by the Poor Laws. For this reason, no specific record was made of their movements. Therefore, even though normally freedom is considered a great blessing which should be extended to all people, the lack of record-keeping during the 16th and 17th centuries does limit the possibilities of tracing the movements of people from place to place.

The following table briefly outlines events which had significant influence on the record-keeping in England:

early 16th century	Agricultural unemployed roam the countryside, due to the break-up of the medieval agricultural system and the dissolution of the monasteries. Many skilled cloth-workers emigrate from the Netherlands.
1534	Henry VIII assumes the title of Supreme Head of the Church of England, and makes a break with Rome.
1536	Henry VIII makes an unsuccessful attempt to initiate the keeping of the parish registers.
1538	Henry VIII's vicar general, Thomas Cromwell, orders parish registers to be kept and the program is successfully initiated. (Out of over 10,000 parishes of the Church of England existing at that time, there are only about 600 [English and Welsh] parishes that now have registers existing back to that year.)¹
1547	The order to keep the parish registers is reiterated. (Some parishes had not yet begun to keep them.) Edward VI begins his reign. During his reign, the break with Rome becomes complete.
1549	There are now about 1,250 English and Welsh parishes whose records go back to this date or earlier. Many more once existed back to this year, but the first volumes in many parishes have disappeared.
circa 1550	Walloon Protestants arrive as refugees from the Low Countries.
1553-1558	Queen Mary, a Roman Catholic daughter of Henry VIII, rules with her husband, Philip. She makes every effort to force the clergy and the people to return to the acceptance of Papal Supremacy (Church of Rome) and its teachings. In some parishes that had begun keeping registers, there were imperfect records.
1558	Queen Elizabeth comes to the throne and the sovereign is re-declared head of the Church in England, and Papal Supremacy is denied.
1559	Queen Elizabeth signs an edict reinforcing the order for keeping parish registers.
1563	Papal recusants are heavily fined in Quarter Sessions of the county courts and in the Queen's Exchequer Courts for non-attendance at church. These sources thus become valuable in tracing a Catholic's pedigree. Roman Catholics are excluded from holding government offices.
1567	Thousands of Flemish exiles settle in towns in the southern counties. Earliest date in the French Protestant and Walloon registers.
1571-1572	Presbyterianism introduced into England by Thomas Cartwright.
1578	Earliest date in the Quaker (The Society of Friends) records. The Quaker meetings did not commence until after 1650, but many of their birth records go back much earlier.
1580-1581	Following the Act of Uniformity of 1579, Robert Browne and his Separatist followers grew in number. These Separatists were also known as Brownists and later became known as Independents or Congregationalists, and sometimes as Puritans.
1584	The first attempt to colonize Virginia fails.
1589	Records of about 5,100 English parishes exist back to this date or earlier. Many other parish records from this early date have since been lost.
1592	Congregational (Independent) church formed in London. A total of 1,065 Independent chapels sent their registers to London on request in 1837. The earliest registers begin in 1644.
1593	The Conventicle Act is aimed against the preaching and worship of non-conformists. This resulted in some records containing details of action taken against non-conformists, especially Roman Catholics. Records of such court actions may be valuable in genealogical research.
1597-1598	Queen Elizabeth orders that all parish registers be kept on parchment. All entries from older registers (usually on paper) are to be copied into the parchment book at least back to the beginning of the Queen's reign in 1558. (Some were re-copied right back to 1538, but most were not. This is why some of the existing copies go back only to 1558.) In the year 1598 it is ordered that a copy of the christening, marriage, and burial entries recorded for each year be sent to the office of the bishop of the diocese. These copies are known as "Bishop's Transcripts".²
17th century	Many Englishmen emigrate to America. (Many of these were religious exiles, such as Puritans, Quakers, and Catholics, but there were also among them merchant adventurers, younger sons of gentry, apprentices, and servants.) Many skilled cloth-workers (mainly Huguenots) emigrate from France.
1601	The Poor Law Acts of 1597-1601 order the appointment of two overseers of the poor in each parish. (From 1601 to 1834, the overseer records produced great quantities of overseers accounts and poor law documents which are now of genealogical value.)³
1603	There is a further reiteration of previous act concerning the keeping of parish registers.
1606	Groups of Separatists flee to Holland.
1614	Some Separatists return to London and establish a church which later became known as the General Baptists.
1620	*Congregationalists sail on the Mayflower* and establish Plimouth Colony on the Massachusetts Bay.**
1642	Civil War begins, lasting to 1646. Some parish registers are either not kept, or are ill-kept, until 1660. In some parishes, earlier records are lost or destroyed.
1644	Earliest date in known Presbyterian registers. Earliest date in known Independent (Congregational) registers.
1647	Earliest date in known Baptist records.
1649	There are records of about 6,600 English parishes existing back to this date or earlier. George Fox, found of the Society of Friends (Quakers), commences his preaching. First Welsh Baptist church founded at Swansea, Glamorganshire. Charles I executed. The Commonwealth period known as the Commonwealth Interregnum or the Protectorate, begins. During this time many parish ministers favoring the established church flee from their parishes.
1653	The ecclesiastical jurisdiction over probate courts is abolished, and all probates are granted by a civil commission 1653-1660. These civil court records are absorbed into the Prerogative Court (of the Archbishop) of Canterbury, in London.
1654	Only justices of the peace are empowered to solemnize marriages, often in the local market town rather than in the parish church. The parish registrar is appointed to record births, marriages, and deaths, but many did not do so. Hence, during this period, many parish registers are either badly kept or not kept at all. This situation lasts until 1660.
1657	A few Jews are permitted to settle in England.⁴
1660	The parish ministers ejected during the Interregnum (1649-1660), if still living, return to their parishes. Because of the unsettled times, many registers kept prior to this date are lost. Provincial ecclesiastical probate courts re-open. All parishes again record christenings, marriages, and burials in the normal manner.
1662	*The Settlement or Poor Relief Act* is added to the previous legislation and involves the keeping of records very valuable to genealogical research. This system lasts until 1834.⁵** Another Act of Uniformity (see also 1579) is passed which leads to many vicars and rectors being driven from their parishes as non-conformists (Presbyterians and Independents). Persecution of all non-conformists. Such disturbances may have affected the record-keeping of the day.
1663	Earliest date in known Roman Catholics registers.
1665	Large numbers of the population of London die of the plague. Burial register entries of London parishes increase significantly during this period.
1666	The great fire of London destroys many churches and parish registers.
1669	Earliest date in known German-Lutheran registers in England.
1671-1672	*The Declaration of Indulgence* frees non-conformists from prison and permits their free worship.**
1684	Huguenot French Protestant registers commence in London.
1685	*Revocation of the Edict of Nantes* drives thousands of French Protestants (Huguenots) out of France; many of them settle in England, mostly around London, Norfolk, and Kent.**
1688	*The Toleration Act* permits burial grounds for non-conformists, Roman Catholics, and Jews. Thus the parish registers of the Church of England do not record those persons buried elsewhere.**
1689	Earliest known Royal Dutch Chapel registers commence.
1695	An act of Parliament imposes a fine upon all who fail to inform the parish minister of the birth of a child. This results in the appearance of lists in parish registers of "Dissenters'" children born but not christened in the parish church. Some are termed "Papists". (The act is repealed in 1706.)
1698	A duty (tax) is placed on entries recorded in parish registers. Before this tax was repealed five years later, it could have caused some laxity in recording parish registers.
1714	Landholders are compelled to take the Oath of Allegiance and renounce Roman Catholicism. From this date, Quarters Sessions records often mention Protestant dissenters and Roman Catholic recusants. This source becomes valuable, therefore, in the tracing of pedigrees of Catholics.
1715	The Jacobite Rebellion organized in Scotland during the attempt of the Roman Catholic Pretender, James Stuart (the son of James II) to seize the throne, reached as far south as Yorkshire and Lancashire. This has a slight effect on record preservation in parishes along the main roads from the Scottish border into those two counties.
1717	Roman Catholics are forced by law to register their estates with the County Quarter Sessions.⁶
1720	Manufacturing towns begin to increase in population. (Genealogically, this would suggest some movement from country parishes and cause parish registers in the towns increase.
1730	First Moravian (later also called the United Brethren) congregations are established in England.
1733	Proceedings in courts of justice are written in English rather than Latin for the first time. A new law forbidding the use of Latin in parish registers is generally obeyed. Some parishes had discontinued recording in Latin years before. The parishes that persisted in using Latin after this date were largely in the north of England.
1738	Earliest date in known Calvinistic Methodist registers.
1741	Earliest date in known Scottish Church registers in England. Benjamin Ingham founds the Moravian Methodists, or Inghamites. Earliest date in known Moravian registers.
1743	Forty thousand English and Hanoverian soldiers fight in Europe, in the War of the Austrian Succession. Searches in English parish registers for the burial of a particular individual might be affected by the omission of soldiers and sailors who died abroad.
1745	The Young Pretender, Bonnie Prince Charlie, attempts another Jacobite Rebellion. This has a slight effect on record preservation in parishes on the main highways from the Scottish border to as far south as Derbyshire.
1749	There are records of about 10,200 English parishes existing back to this date or earlier.
1752	Earliest date in known Lady Huntingdon's New Connexion registers New style calendar inaugurated. Year to commence on 1 January instead of 25 March.
1753	Earliest date in known Inghamite registers.
1754	Lord Hardwicke's Marriage Act orders the publication of banns in the parish(es), to put an end to clandestine marriages. Marriages are to take place in either the groom's or the bride's parish of residence unless a marriage license is obtained.⁷
1757	Foundations are laid for India to become part of the British Empire. Many English families are involved in the East India Company.⁸
1759-1761	First navigation canal is put into use. This is an economic success, and is followed by many other canals throughout England. Irish labor is used in large measure in excavating the canals. Many Irishmen stay and settle in the larger towns. The canals are not only a popular method for traveling from place to place, but the administering of canals and the handling of barges becomes an occupation to many people who move along the canals.⁹
1760-1830	This period is often referred to as the most important part of the Industrial Revolution because of the many significant changes which take place in industry during these years, although there are also changes before 1760 and after 1830. Home industries are now centralized in factories, new towns spring into importance, and there is a considerable movement of families from agricultural occupation into the new industrial towns. Merchant shipping and fishing fleets grow and seaports enlarge. Whereas in 1700 most of the population lived in the country and engages in agriculture, by 1900 the population is six times larger, and lives mostly in towns, and is involved in industry. The cotton industry is the first to be affected, as the cottage weavers and spinners cannot compete with Kay's Flying Shuttle (weaving), Hargreave's Jenny, Arkwright's Frame, and Crompton's Mule (spinning). The cottage workers, therefore, migrate to the newly developed towns in the North and in the Midlands. In this same area, iron and coal are found (the Industrial Revolution is sometimes described as the marriage of coal and iron) and make a supply of power for the new factories possible. The need for better and more economical transport leads to the development of canals, bridges, and later (1830) the railroads and highways. Though less noticeable, an agricultural revolution is also taking place. Improvements are made in the sowing of crops, in cultivation, and in cattle breeding. The enclosure of fields, begun hundreds of years earlier, becomes more common, making more efficient farming possible.
1762	Earliest date in known Swiss Church registers. Earliest date in known Unitarian registers.
1770	New Connexion or General Baptists church is organized in London.
1778	The Penal Laws against Roman Catholics are repealed. This allows them to worship openly and to legitimately maintain registers. In spite of persecutions, there are many Catholic registers which pre-date 1778.¹⁰
1779	There are records of about 10,600 English parishes existing back to this date or earlier. Earliest date in known New Connexion Methodist registers.
1780	Earliest date in known Wesleyan Methodist registers.
1783	A tax of threepence is imposed upon each entry made in the parish registers. This duty is repealed in 1794, but, in the meantime, causes some omissions of christening, marriage, and burial entries in parish registers.
1787	Earliest date in known Swedenborgian (Church of the New Jerusalem, or Jerusalemite) registers.
1788	Commencement of the settlement of Australia.
1790	Regimental (Army) registers of births, baptisms, marriages, and deaths for various regiments at home and abroad commence.¹¹
1793	War with France and 10,000 English soldiers are in Flanders. From a genealogical point of view, military records are much improved by this time, and are of tremendous value.¹²
1796	Registers kept by Army chaplains begin, generally from stations abroad. These contain births, baptisms, marriages, and deaths.¹³
1797	Methodist New Connexion denomination organized
19th century	People are living longer, due to advances in medicine, hygiene, clothing, etc., so the population increases very sharply. Genealogically, this means an increase in the volume of the records.
1800	Earliest date in known Bible Christian registers.
1806	Earliest date in known Primitive Methodist registers.
1812	There are records of about 10,700 English parishes existing back to this year or earlier.
1813	New type of parish register books introduced, consisting of ruled and numbered pages.
1823	New laws concerning marriage by license, the allegation being abolished.¹⁴
1829	Earliest known date of the Irvingite, or Catholic Apostolic registers.
1830	The first passenger railroad opens. Although much Irish labor is used in the building of the railroads, many Englishmen also move with the railroad, and many families are found with children being born in different towns, as work on the railroad progresses. New towns (such as Crewe and Swindon) and many other places previously unimportant develop, while other places, bypassed by the railroads, decline in population and importance.
1831	A list of all parish registers dating prior to 1831 is compiled by the government, known to genealogists as "The 1831 Parish Register Abstract" (942 V26g, v. 3).¹⁵
1835	Earliest known date in Universalist Church registers.
1837	New law concerning the civil registration of births, marriages, and deaths is enforced from 1 July. This new sources is a tremendous boon to genealogists.¹⁶ Over 6,000 volumes of church registers received by the Registrar General in London, from non-conformists all over England and Wales. (These are now at the PRO in London.)
1841	The first national population census of value to genealogists is taken.¹⁷
1846	The potato famine in Ireland causes many Irish to immigrate to England, where they move mainly into larger cities such as Liverpool and Manchester.
1851	The population census is improved, and the information is of greater value to genealogists.¹⁸
1858	Probate courts are taken out of ecclesiastical jurisdiction, and placed on a district and national basis.

Many records of genealogical value give a date in the regnal year. For example: "3 Henry 8" being the third year in the reign of Henry VIII. The event, therefore, would have taken place between 22 April 1512 and 22 April 1513. As reference material, a list follows of those regnal years from William the Conqueror to the present.

KEY TO REGNAL YEARS -- 1066 TO THE PRESENT

William I	14 Oct. (or 25 Dec.) 1066 - 9 Sept. 1087
William II	26 Sept. 1087 - 2 Aug. 1100
Henry I	5 Aug. 1100 - 1 Dec. 1135
Stephen	26 Dec. 1135 - 25 Oct. 1154
Henry II	19 Dec. 1154 - 6 July 1189
Richard I	3 Sept. 1189 - 6 April 1199
John	27 May 1199 - 19 Oct. 1216
Henry III	28 Oct. 1216 - 16 Nov. 1272
Edward I	20 Nov. 1272 - 7 July 1307
Edward II	8 July 1307 - 20 Jan. 1327
Edward III	25 Jan. 1327 - 21 June 1377
Richard II	22 June 1377 - 29 Sept. 1399
Henry IV	30 Sept. 1399 - 20 March 1413
Henry V	21 March 1413 - 31 Aug. 1422
Henry VI	1 Sept. 1422 - 4 March 1461 (and 9 Oct. 1470 - 14 April 1471)
Edward IV	4 March 1461 - 9 April 1483
Edward V	9 April - 25 June 1483
Richard III	26 June 1483 - 22 Aug. 1485
Henry VII	22 Aug. 1485 - 21 April 1509
Henry VIII	22 April 1509 - 28 Jan. 1547
Edward VI	29 Jan. 1547 - 6 July 1553
Mary (Philip & Mary)	19 (officially 6) July 1553 - 17 Nov 1558 (with Philip from 25 July 1554)
Elizabeth I	17 Nov. 1558 - 24 March 1603
James I	24 March 1603 - 27 March 1625
Charles I	27 March 1625 - 30 Jan. 1649
Interregnum	30 Jan. 1649 - 29 May 1660
Charles II	29 May 1660 - 6 Feb. 1685 (reckoned from 30 Jan. 1649)
James II	6 Feb. 1685 - 11 Dec. 1688
William III (William III & Mary II)	13 Feb. 1689 - 8 March 1702 (jointly with Mary II until 27 Dec. 1694)
Anne	8 March 1702 - 1 Aug. 1714
George I	1 Aug. 1714 - 11 June 1727
George II	11 June 1727 - 25 Oct. 1760
George III	25 Oct. 1760 - 20 Jan. 1820
George IV	29 Jan. 1820 - 26 June 1830
William IV	26 June 1830 - 20 June 1837
Victoria	20 June 1837 - 22 Jan. 1901
Edward VII	22 Jan. 1901 - 6 May 1910
George V	6 May 1910 - 20 Jan. 1936
Edward VIII	20 Jan. - 11 Dec. 1936
George VI	11 Dec. 1936 - 6 Feb. 1952
Elizabeth II	6 Feb. 1952 - present

NOTES REFERENCED

1. David E. Gardner and Frank Smith, Genealogical Research in England and Wales, (Salt Lake City, Utah: Bookcraft, 1956), Vol. 1, chapters 10 and 11.

2. Op. cit., Vol. 1, Chap. 13.

3. Op. cit., Vol. 1, pp. 124-140.

4. Op. cit., Vol. 1, Chap. 16.

5. Op. cit., Vol. 1, Chap. 9.

6. Op. cit., Vol. 1, Chap. 17.

7. Op. cit., Vol. 1, Chap. 14.

8. Op. cit., Vol. 2, pp. 161-163.

9. Research Papers Series A No. 5, Population Movements in England and Wales by Canal and Navigable Rivers, (Salt Lake City: The Genealogical Society of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints).

10. David E. Gardner and Frank Smith, Genealogical Research in England and Wales, (Salt Lake City, Utah: Bookcraft, 1956), Vol. 1, chapter 17.

11. Op. cit., Vol. 2, p.156.

12. Op. cit., Vol. 2, Chap. 7.

13. Op. cit., Vol. 2, p. 153.

14. Op. cit., Vol. 1, Chap. 14.

15. Op. cit., Vol. 1, p. 141.

16. Op. cit., Vol. 1, Chaps. 4 and 5.

17. Op. cit., Vol. 1, Chaps. 6 and 7

18. Op. cit., Vol. 1, Chaps. 6, 7, and 8.