Researching before 1837

You may be racing through your family history, using the census returns and civil registration certificates to get back to the 1830's, and then...nothing? No census. No certificates. Where do you go from here?

The good news is that records don't stop at this point. Great Britain is one of the best-documented countries in the world. There is a remarkable range of records - produced by churches, courts, landowners, employers, central government and more. But each record type has its own system and quirks, and so research success in this period depends on understanding what records exist, where to find them and how to use them.

Here's our top tips to get you started.

Tip 1: Who was your ancestor?

Archive Guides: Many records in this period relate to who a person was and the job they did. For example, was he (or she) a non-conformist who worshipped outside the Church of England? Was he an apprentice? Did he serve in the royal or merchant navy? Was he a landowner, a pauper or a soldier?

Each of these different roles created different kinds of records. The best place to start might be research guides produced by The National Archives in London. There are over 300 guides on a wide range of subjects and, for each subject, the guide describes which records have survived and where to find them. Local archives also produce their own research guides, as do the national archives for Scotland and Wales - worth checking for the area you're researching

Trade Directories: You may find your ancestor listed in a local trade directory, As well as descriptions of each place, they also list important residents, trades and professions. Digitised collections of trade directories from the late 18th to the early 20th centuries are free to search and view at:

• For England & Wales: University of Leicester (also on Ancestry)

• For Scotland: National Library of Scotland

A 19th century street scene. Your ancestor may appear in local trade directories. (Birmingham Museums Trust.)

Where is my ancestor?

When using genealogy collections online, remember that if you don't find your ancestor, it may be that their location or time period isn't included in that collection. For example, the Apprentices collection at FindMyPast, is not a comprehensive collection of all apprenticeship records. Instead, it's a large and eclectic collection, from 13th century York to 20th century electrical engineering apprenticeships. So if you don't find your ancestor's apprenticeship records here, you may find them somewhere else - either on another online platform or in physical archives.

Apprentices collection at FindMyPast.

Tip 2: Hatched, matched, dispatched...

In 1538, Thomas Cromwell - Henry VIII’s chief minister - ordered ministers to record baptisms, marriages, and burials in their parish. Although few registers survive from this date, survival does improve through the later 16th and 17th centuries, so many English and Welsh parishes have registers stretching back many hundreds of years. They are one of the most useful and important sources for pre-1837 genealogy research, especially when combined with other records.

Why are some parish registers missing?

"...many of the missing registers have suffered such fates as burning, loss, lending without return, destruction by fire, water, damp, lightning, 'silverfish', rats, mice...used by the village grocer for wrapping his wares,...'thrown on a dung heap',...thrown on the fire by the parson's wife, in a rage with her husband,...In one place the registers were given away in odd leaves [pages] as souvenirs.." An 1814 register entry for Kingsdown, Kent recorded the burial of the "Clerk of the Parish 19 years. A respectable man & an excellent reader. The man who burnt the Old Parish Registers."

Tate, W. E. The Parish Chest. 3rd ed., Cambridge UP, 1969, p. 288

Most parish registers have been deposited in local archives. Many have also been digitised so may be found in various online collections. Check the archive website for your county or city of interest to find out about coverage and digitisation.

In Scotland, parish registers also began in the sixteenth century, although most registers don't survive from this time. The main surviving registers are digitised and available on a pay-per-view basis on Scotland's People, although coverage is less complete than in England. Many Scots were not part of the Established Church, so registered elsewhere (or not at all).

Tip 3: Written in the parish

The parish was the lowest unit of local administration. It was responsible for poor relief, church finance, the local rates, highway maintenance, and many other aspects of parish life. Your ancestor might be recorded as a parish official, a rate payer, a recipient of poor relief or a tradesman. These records are generally held in local archives and most have not been fully digitised. Check your local archive's catalogue to see what's survived.

Parish records were held in chests like this - except this one is empty! It is for the parish of St Mary's Church in Whitby. According to a sign above, the chest "contained the Church Plate and Parish records when [in 1743] it was stolen and thrown over the cliff by robbers. The chest was recovered but without its contents.” (© Brian Deegan (cc-by-sa/2.0)

In Scotland, kirk session records — the Scottish equivalent of parish records — are largely held at the National Records of Scotland. However, not all Scots were members of the Church of Scotland. Those who worshipped elsewhere may appear in different records. These records may not be fully digitised, and may require a visit to the National Records of Scotland or local archives.

Tip 4: Where there's a will

Before 1858, wills in England and Wales were proved in a hierarchy of church courts. Which court handled a will depended on where the deceased owned property, not where they lived. Two courts sat at the top of the pyramid

• The Prerogative Court of York (PCY) for northern England. Wills proved at the PCY and lesser Yorkshire courts are held at the Borthwick Institute for Archives and digitised on Ancestry.

• The Prerogative Court of Canterbury (PCC) for Wales and southern England. It is the superior court, so also handled wills with property in both north and south or property abroad. It is always worth checking for PCC wills regardless of where your ancestor lived, as some chose to prove their wills here - and the collection is digitised and easy to search at  The National Archives or Ancestry.

  
  

Digitisation of other pre-1858 wills is mixed. Some areas have excellent coverage - such as the Wiltshire Wills collection on Ancestry, which brings together wills from many different Wiltshire courts - while other counties offer only indexes or require an in-person archive visit. Although Ancestry has a large collection of wills, don't assume that all wills are on Ancestry.

Scotland's system is more centralised than England and Wales. Almost all surviving wills and testaments are indexed through the Scotland's People website.

How a professional genealogist can help

The records covered here are only a fraction of what survives. A professional genealogist knows the pre-1837 world - which records exist for a particular place and time, where to find them, how to make sense of them. If your pre-1837 research stalls, or you'd simply like an expert by your side, a professional genealogist may be just what your family history needs.

Key Takeaways

• Records relating to an ancestor's occupation or status may offer an insight into his life. Research guides produced by e.g. The National Archives can help locate records.

• Parish registers began in the sixteenth century; surviving registers are most are now digitised online.

• Parish records covered poor relief and local administration; few are fully digitised.

• Pre-1858 wills were proved in church courts; PCC (south and Wales) collections and PCY (north) are searchable online. Digitisation of other pre-1858 wills is mixed; some require an archive visit.

• Scotland's records have been gathered into the National Records of Scotland and made accessible through Scotland's People. Official parish registers, kirk session records and almost all wills can be found here.

• Professional genealogists can track down records, interpret old handwriting, and combine sources to make the most of both online and physical archives.