Parish registers were introduced in 1538 and until the advent of civil registration in 1837 provide the main source for tracing baptisms (not births), marriages and burials (not deaths). Some of the earliest registers were kept on loose sheets of paper and relatively few survive in Devon but a canon of 1597 required their copying retrospectively into parchment books and the making of annual transcripts of entries for the Diocese. The production of Bishop's Transcripts in Devon was largely ignored and few start earlier than 1606, but in many instances the series, which have always formed part of the diocesan records, fill gaps where the original parish copies have disappeared. The Civil War and Commonwealth interrupted the production of parish registers with Bishops' Transcripts ceasing for twenty years from 1642 although in 1653 a layman, confusingly known as the Parish Register, was appointed in each parish to maintain registration. Even after the Restoration there are many gaps in Bishops' Transcripts until the 1720s. From 1754 Lord Hardwicke's marriage act introduced printed books of forms and the parties and witnesses had to sign or give their marks - important evidence for literacy. In 1812 the Parochial registers Act introduced printed forms for baptisms which included the names, residences and occupations of the parents, and for burials which included the residence and age at death. From the introduction of Civil Registration in 1837 the marriage register was changed to include the ages of the parties, their occupations and their fathers' names and occupations.

A good introduction to Anglican and other registers is given by Anthony Wilcox in National index of parish registers, vol. 8, part 5: Devon (1999). Hugh Peskett's Guide to the parish and non-parochial registers of Devon and Cornwall 1538-1837 (Devon and Cornwall Record Society, 1979) is also useful but locations are outdated as since this work was compiled virtually all Devon parish registers have been called into the three branches of the DRO under the Parochial Records Measure of 1978. A regularly updated better guide to locations is the Devon Record Office's Parish, non-parochial and civil registers in the Devon Record Office also available on the internet. The current registers (which may in smaller parishes extend back a considerble time) remain with the church. While most parish registers and diocesan transcripts are therefore available, normally on microfiche, in the Devon Record Offices branches and service points, other transcripts and indexes are also to be found.

The Devon and Cornwall Record Society has transcribed and published a number of registers, including notably Colyton, which has been used for a number of important demographic studies. These published transcripts are widely available in libraries. The Society's library, available to members in the Westcountry Studies Library, includes several hundred additional unpublished parish register transcripts and also includes Boyd's and Fursdon's marriage indexes and an index to marriage licences, all typescripts.

Baptisms and marriages, but not burials, for parishes held in the Society's collection along with some other parishes have been indexed by the Mormons and are available on microfiche as the International Genealogical Index. Various versions of the Devon section of this Index are available in libraries throughout Devon and a version is available on the internet at http://www.familysearch.org. The Devon Family History Society is involved in indexing Devon marriages from 1813 to 1837 and will extend coverage back to 1754. They have also indexed burials in many Devon parishes, normally from 1812 to 1837. The growth of nonconformity means that coverage becomes increasingly patchy in Devon, although the established church was frequently used by dissenters for baptism, marriage and burial, and certainly during the period of Civil Registration the registry office indexes are the most comprehensive source for births, marriage and deaths.

2. OTHER PARISH RECORDS

These are normally to be found in record offices. Unlike parish registers these for the most part have not been transcribed indexed or published. Chapter 15 of Stuart Raymond's Devon: a genealogical bibliography lists examples of many local sources which have been the subject of books or periodical articles.

Since Tudor times the parish has had a wide range of administrative activities and has generated a variety of records. From 1555 for example each parish was made responsible for its highways and a series of acts culminating in those of 1597 and 1601 obliged them to relieve the poor.

Vestry minutes contain the main proceedings of the parish and give an account of the vestry's activities in a wide range of areas.

Churchwarden's accounts. The earliest of these pre-date parish registers and several have been transcribed and published. Examples include Ashburton (1479-1580), Chagford (1480-1600), Hartland (1597-1706) and Morebath (1520-1573). They note expenditure on a remarkable wide range of matters from road repairs to the payment of bounty for killing vermin.

Rating lists indicate the liability of each named person, but only rarely are the names of properties given on which their liability was assessed. There may be separate rating assessments for poor rates, church rates and highway rates.

The accounts of the Overseer of the Poor are perhaps the most informative for social historians. The parish was responsible for poverty relief until the Poor Law Reform Act of 1834 set up poor law unions. Among the records of most value for family historians are the apprenticeship papers, although these do not survive for all parishes. Poor law apprenticeships were normally for menial rather than skilled emplyments, such as domestic service or agricultural labour. Those for Stockleigh English are discussed in the Transactions of the Devonshire Association (1901) p.484-94. Settlement papers are useful for studying migration. Other papers which may survive are bastardy records, vagrant searches, removal orders and workhouse accounts. A listing of these groups of records is given by the Devon Record Office in Parish poor law records in Devon (1993)

Records of parish charities, often including charity schools, can provide valuable information on the way public services were provided as a result of private philanthropy. Information is often summaried in the reports of the Charity Commissioners.

Civil parishes were established in 1894 and many of their records are also deposited in the DRO. In a few cases copies of minutes may also be found in the local library or museum.

Further reading:
Tate, W.E. The parish chest. (1974)
West, J. Village records. 2nd ed. (1982)
Cole, A. An introduction to poor law documents before 1834. (1993).