The introduction of Parish Records in England and Wales began on 5 September 1538. The Vicar General, Thomas Cromwell mandated that clergy were to keep a written record of baptisms, marriages and burials that occurred within their parish.

The Parish Chest, Ludlow Church, Shropshire England © Julie Goucher, 2014

The records were required to be held in a chest with two locks, with the clergy holding one key, and the Churchwardens the other.

This was a defining moment in the History of England and Wales – It was the pathway of England and Wales splitting from Rome and the Catholic Church, and the establishment of the Church of England, as we know it.

At a risk of stating the obvious, that means that prior to September 1538, England and Wales were Roman Catholic. There were no official written record of birth, marriages or deaths, although some parish priests did keep informal records of local families.

Despite the lack of vital records, there are other records available to us, many around taxation, with many of the records written in Latin. Surnames were not at this point well established. Frequently they were in the format of occupational or based around a place or descriptive location. Here is one such example:

Adam Butcher son of Henry the Butcher…..1368

Source –

Monastic Database, University College London, DDCC 98/1 accessed 17 February 2025 

This was not an isolated example, here is another one from Northampton Kings Bench Indictments

Geoffrey Bocher of Harrold, Butcher

I went back and looked for a few other examples of datasets that were available – these are all online, with access free of charge, and are listed below:

• Medieval Soldiers, those serving the English Crown 1369-1453 – https://medievalsoldier.org
• Archbishops Registers, Records 1225-1650 – https://archbishopsregisters.york.ac.uk/ 
• Englands Immigrants, Those identified as “aliens – https://www.englandsimmigrants.com/
• Cause Papers, cases heard in the Church Courts of the diocese of York. 1300 and 1858 – https://www.dhi.ac.uk/causepapers/
• Medieval Genealogy – a fascinating collection of information and links to other datasets, records and material – https://medievalgenealogy.org.uk
• Monastic Database –  Bringing together the largest collection of material in the pre modern world – accessed HERE (the link is rather long, alternative, to locate the database look at the digital collections)
• Aberdeen Registers – 15th Century town council registers – https://sar.abdn.ac.uk/

Notes

• The links provided here were all accessed 17 February 2025.
• These datasets were typically undertaken by research grants at various universities, and in some cases the projects were undertaken collaboratively.
• These datasets are all in addition to the various documents that might be identified by searching the catalogue at county records offices, heritage centres, museums and national archives.
• English Date Calendar, adjusting dates based on days of the week, regnal years, ecclesiastical dates and new/old style dates – https://aulis.org/Calendar/Welcome.html