The recently indexed parish registers on ancestry.co.uk have proved invaluable in my research for clients with London ancestors. Previously, locating a vital event such as a baptism, marriage or burial before 1837 required lengthy searches through the microfilms at London Metropolitan Archives (LMA).

Even when a birthplace was discovered on a later census, this did not lead me to the correct church. Families often had their children baptised at a number of parishes in the area – particularly in the City where, even today, thirty eight churches survive within one square mile. One family I researched lived at the same address in Southwark throughout the period their children were born, but the baptisms took place at three separate churches: Southwark St George the Martyr, Southwark St Saviour, and St Giles Camberwell. For those unfamiliar with the area, this can be readily explained by the fact that St George the Martyr and St Saviour are in the same road (Borough High Street).

Since the digitization of the LMA’s London parish registers and the Guildhall Manuscript Library’s City parish registers (now held at LMA), life is easier. My London research is speedier and, often, cheaper. However, clients can be concerned when they can’t find their ancestors on ancestry. They know they lived in London; they were born in London, they died in London – so why aren’t they there?

The answer is that ancestry has only been able to digitize records if the original parish register is held at LMA. This can be confusing: St Giles in the Fields parish registers, for example, can be searched at LMA on microfilm. One set of its records from 1800-1812 can even be found on ancestry. But the original is still retained by the church.

There are four batches of London parish registers that have been uploaded to the ancestry website:

1. London, England, Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812

2. London, England, Births and Baptisms, 1813-1906

3. London, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1921

4. London, England, Deaths and Burials, 1813-1980

The separation into pre-1812 and post-1813 registers marks the enforcement of George Rose’s Act in 1812. This followed up on Hardwicke’s Marriage Act of 1754, designed to stop clandestine marriages. Disorder continued, however, and Rose insisted that all baptisms, marriages and burials be recorded in separate registers. These registers were specially printed with columns marked for ‘When Baptized’, ‘Child’s Christian Name’, ‘Parents Name’, ‘Abode’, ‘Quality, Trade, or Profession’ and ‘By whom the Ceremony was Performed’. From 1813, registers are thus more organized and the content is less of a surprise.

So, clients ask, what is on ancestry and what isn’t? I visited LMA to clarify. Happily, I discovered that an official list is currently being compiled for publication on ancestry some time soon. In the meantime, there are lists in the LMA search room of churches whose registers have not been deposited with LMA.

Using this list, and comparing with what is on the ancestry site, I propose to write a series of blogs on the parishes that are not on ancestry. This will incorporate information on the records, my experience of researching that parish, and some social history of the area.

The first series of blogs will cover the modern London boroughs whose records I research most frequently: Camden, the City, Islington, and Tower Hamlets. I shall also blog a little on the Westminster churches whose records are held at neither LMA nor Westminster City Archives.

I hope you have enjoyed this blog and that you return to read about the first church in the Camden series – my own parish church of St Anne Brookfield (established 1853).